Camera Obscura
by Addicted Archangel
Summary: An serial killer is terrorising the small town of Brewton, Alabama, and the BAU is called on the case. Reid goes missing ang the team struggles to find him. Pairings - none
1. Just the one

The music blared thoughout the club accompanied by flickering lights. Somewhere close to the DJ-booth a smoke machine spewed out a dense cloud of artificial mist, covering the floor. Everywhere people were dancing at an insane speed, clothes and hairdos eaqually insane looking. No wonder special agent Doctor Spencer Reid felt totally malplaced.

Sitting at the bar, he let his eyes wander around the huge room, sceptically watching the women – or rather young girls – dancing away like there was no tomorrow. And for them, maybe there wasn't. The hardly looked old enough to be high school graduates, and certainly not old enough to drink or smoke. Even still, at leas 80 percent of the dancers were carrying various types of drinks, ranging from beers to screaming orgasms. He cursed himself for actually reading that book, "A world of drinks" at Dereks house the other day. Now the information was wedged into his mind for all eternity, information that felt more suiting for a game of Jeopardy than in the world of a profiler. He sighed and considered leaving, when suddenly a familiar voice began yelling in his ear.

"Reid! Are you having fun!?" Voice belonging to JJ Jareau, the beautiful an perky young blonde belonging to his team of profilers. Not being a profiler herself, JJ was constantly picking up new knowledge from the other teammembers, one day hoping to prove herself as a true profiler. But right now, she looked nothing like the special agent she was. Her skirt was too short, her shoes were too high and her shirt looked like something she had borrowed from her little sisters closet. Ever so shiny and happy, and in this case – tipsy – she jumped up and down, bouncing to the music. "Come on, dance with me!"

Reid squirmed in his chair. "I don't think.. It's not.. Maybe later!" He had no intention of dancing tonight. He was simply looking for a window that he could climb out of. But this warehouse had no obvious windows, except te small ones by the ceiling. And those weren't an option.

JJ smirked and tugged lightly at Reids tousled bangs. "Big bore!" She reached across the bar and stole his drink, but after a few sips she looked at him. "Shirley Temple?!"

"I'm not a big fan of alcohol!" He gave a lopsided grin as JJ put the glass back beside him, put her tongue out at him, then bounced back into the crowd, disappearing from his line of sight.

Just as Reid was getting up to leave the rave that JJ had dragged him and the rest of the team along to, a firm hand on his shoulder shoved him back onto his seat. A quick glance reavealed special agent Derek Morgan, the self (and by others) proclaimed casanova of the team. He grabbed the seat beside Reid and sat down with a big grin on his lips.

"Hey, brainboy! You enjoying the view?!" He peered at the group of gorgeous women dancing a little bit too close to Reid for it to be a coincidence. Neither were their hungry and seductive looks a coincidence. Reid never realised when women were attracted to him. Derek laughed at his colleague's oblivious looks at the females. "Why don't you go dance with them!?"

Reid shook his head furiously. "Uh, no..! I can't.. Ah.. Well.. I've never.. Uh.." He tried to tell Derek that neither could he dance, neither did he want to, but the words got stuck in his throat. The warehouse was extremely hot, and beads of sweat began trickling down his cheeks.

Once again Derek laughed. "What are you drinking, man?!" He tasted the innocent drink and coughed heavily. "Shirley Temple, what the..?! You can't drink this at a rave!"

"I'm not a.."

"You're not a big fan of alcohol, I know! I'll get you something better that that crap! I promise you'll never taste the booze!" Despite Reids obvoius protests, Derek leaned over the bar, catching the attention of the bartender. Reid could not make out what Derek ordered, but the bartender returned a few minutes later with a brown drink in a tall glass, topped off with a straw.

"Go on! Taste it!"

Reluctantly, Reid put the straw to his plump lips, expecting a cold rush of disgusting liquid vomit to enter his mouth. Instead, he was pleasently surprised, when the drink actually tasted rather nice, and Derek was right – he would never have noticed the alcohol if he hadn't been warned. "This is good!" he yelled after a few sips.

Derek smiled. "Great! Enjoy that one, and I'll go find Emily and Hotch! We'll keep eachother company until JJ gets sick of dancing! I'll be right back!" With that he left Reid at the bar, makin his way though the raging crowd of overwatered dancers. Reid rested his elbow on the bar, gazing out into the crowd. _There are some very strange people here, _he thought. _Well, technically, I am the one who stands out in the crowd, so technically – I'm the strange one._ The realisation brought a slight smile to his lips. He felt like he was back in college. He was always the one standing out in the crowd, 13 years old in a school populated by young adults ranging from 18 to atleast 25. He took a few more sips on his drink, and suddenly the world wasn't such a bad place after all.

Three drinks later

Derek returned to the place where he had left Read half an hour earlier. It had been hell locating Emily and Hotch in the overcrowded warehouse. You'd think that finding man in an italian suit and a lady without a star spangled bra would be easy at a rave, but oh how he was mistaken. It took him a good 20 minutes to find them, five minutes to try to communicate his intentions to them, and five minutes to find their way back to the bar. But as they reached the seat Reid once occupied, they found it empty. Hotch moaned. "Don't tell me he's been kidnapped again!"

Derek laughed at the ironic joke and looked around to find his young co-worker. Suddenly, he stopped short. His eyes landed on something he'd never before seen. Just staring blankly at the dancefloor, he merely pointed in that direction as Hotch poked his arm for attention. Hotch and Emily turned to see what was the matter. The floor rumbled at the simultaneous dropping of three special agent's jaws.

Dancing in the middle of the dancefloor was Reid. He had rolled up his pants legs to his kneew, revealing the mismatching socks in pink and orange, and the fact that his shoes were missing. For some reason, he had tore his shirt off and tied it around his head as a big sweatband. Topless, he danced around the floor with JJ. Maybe dancing is not the right word for what he was doing. Jumping up and down madly, shaking his head, headbanging, arms flailing wildly out of control – all the while he was yelling and cheering himself and JJ on. From the looks of it, he was either drunk or having a standing epileptic seizure.

All Derek could do was stare. As he finally regained his ability to open his mouth, he managed to speak, or rather yell. "Reid drunk, and dancing! Now I've seen everything!"

Hotch turned to him. "What did you give him? Vodka on the rocks?"

"Naah", Derek grinned. "Long Island Ice Tea!"

"Derek!" Emily grabbed his arm. "There's like five different kinds of liqueur in that drink! You gave that to Reid?! _**Reid?!**_"

"Just the one!" It was all Derek could do to keep from falling to the ground laughing at the poor young man making a fool of himself on the dancefloor. But he seemed to enjoy himself. He was surrounded by females, even though he looked like an intoxicated troll doll at the moment.

A small vibration in his pocket caught Hotch's attention. He took out his small Nokia, and somehow managed to have a short communication with the person on the other side of the line. The look on his face after he hung up was not to be mistaken. They had been called in.

"Derek, go get Reid! Emily, grab JJ! We're leaving right now! We have to go straight to the airfield, apperently this case is a head priority!" He began walking towards the exit. "We'll meet outside!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Derek looked at his dancing co-workers. This was not going to be an easy flight.

**I will continue this when I do not have homework, I think I have a pretty good plot planned out for the BAU. Let me know if you are interested in reading the next chapter, so I know wether to hurry or relax. R&R my friends!**


	2. Returning to the land of the living

**Disclaimer: This one goes for the last chapter as well, since I forgot to put one in there. I don't own CM, and I'm not making any money. Sadly.**

The BAU jet was doing 495 mph at 20,000 ft heading southwest towards Alabama, specifically to an airstrip just outside of Brewton. The team had been rushed to the airport straight from the club, leading them to the conclusion that this was a seriously urgent matter. The files before the teammembers confirmed their suspicions, as they contained material so gruesome that it made the hardened FBI-agents' stomachs churn.

Morgan leaned back into his chair. "I am seriously starting to question my choise of career.." Resting his chin on the L-shape of his index finger and thumb, he gave a deep sigh. "I know we're profilers and everything, but I'm sorry – I will never understand fully how these sick bastards' minds work."

"You don't have to", Hotch broke in. "We just have to figure out enough about them to catch them." In all honesty, he thought to himself, does anyone ever understand anyone?

An eerie silence placed itself inside the jet. A pitiful moan from the far back of the cabin broke the calm. The small table on the side of the somewhat larger seat was cluttered with coffee mugs, nearly obscuring the person behind it. The near shoulder lenght brown hair was sloppily draped around the sharp jawline of Spencer Reid, rave dancer extraordinaire. From the looks and sounds of it, he was currently regretting his choise of poison.

Morgan rose and went to sit beside his colleague, possibly providing him with an extra lap to heave in. Keeping in mind that Reids stomach was not of the strong kind, Morgan kept his distance on the seat. "How ya feeling, kid?" The moment he uttered the words, he knew it had been an idiotic question. The young agent looked like he could fall over at any time. His eyes were red and bloodshot, lips dry and limbs hanging limply from his body. He truly was a sad sight for tired eyes.

Reid merely moaned in answer to Morgans question. Suddenly, his arms tensed and his head shot up from its hanging position. The panic in the young agents eyes was obvious as he flew up from his seat and half ran, half stumbled towards the small airplane bathroom, one hand clutching his mouth. With the slam of the door, Morgan rose from his seat and scratched his head before heading back to the rest of the team. Prentiss looked at him with disbelief. "I can not believe you gave Reid Long Island Ice Tea..!" She shook her head and curved her lips into a "you're an idiot"-position.

Morgan held his hands up before him in defense. "Now, hold on. How was I supposed to know he was going to down three of them in less than half an hour?" He sat down beside JJ Jareau and crossed his legs. "And besides, how in the world can someone get hammered in that short period of time?"

Shaking her head once again, Prentiss could not believe her partners vain attempts to redeem himself. "You shouldn't have given him anything at all! He's a kid, he couldn't hold his liqueuer if his life depended on it." Her heart held more compassion than reproach for her young colleague.

"Alright, enough." Hotch decided to put an end to the blame game that flared between the two agents. "Reid is a grown man, and he is – believe it or not – able to take responsibility for his actions." On the inside, Hotch was laughing wildly at the sight of his young co-worker drunk dancing at a rave, but he knew that he had to keep a stern outside for the sake of his authority.

With a deep sigh, Reid emerged from the bathroom, looking exhausted. His lanky figure looked somewhat crumpled as he dragged himself over to the table where his co-workers were seated. A slight groan escaped his lips as he sat down in an empty seat across from agent Hotchner. He leaned over, resting his head in his slender hands.

"How are you holding up there, kid?" Agent Hotchners paternal instincts kicked into full mode as he saw his young friend suffer the pains of too much alcohol in his system.

"My head hurts.." Reid replied, rubbing his temples.

"That's your brain trying to comprehend its own stupidity." Agent Jason Gideon had been sitting quietly, eying the casefile before him. As he met the eyes of his junior teammember, he could actually feel the shame that flowed through the veins of said member. As much as he hated seeing Reid in this state, he couldn't help but thinking that he had only himself to blame. It wan't like Reid to be this irresponsible, and Gideon mused about the reasons for his sudden downfall. Perhaps a girl, perhaps peer pressure, perhaps bad judgement.

"Drink your coffee." Agent Hotchner placed a new cup of hot, brown liquid before his junior colleague, who immediately wrapped his hands around it, bringing it to his lips. "We need you at your best when we land."

Reid looked up at Hotch with tired eyes. "When do we land?"

"In 20 minutes." Hotch shook his head slightly and decided to bring the team back up to speed with the task at hand. "Let's go over the cases again before touchdown." He grabbed a casefile from the table.

JJ sat up straight, folding the casefile open in her lap. "Alright, we have.." She rustled the papers and cleared her throat. It was a hard case to look at. "Tanya Webster, age 15. Found dead in a dumpster three days ago, mutilated nearly beyond recognicion. The parents had to identify her based on personal belongings. She had been strangled."

"Victim two is Harry Roth, aged 15." Hotch flipped through the casefile. "He was found on a playground later the same day as victim one, but not nearly as mutilated. This victim was also stabbed to death." Hotch changed casefile. "Victim three is Josh Anderson, aged 16, found dead in his home two days ago. Parents were out of town, they found him on his bed with certain.. Parts missing. He bled out."

"This goes on. We have four more victims, all found within the last three days." JJ ran her fingers through her hair and let her hand come to rest on the base of her neck. "The local police is in crisis and requested us a soon as they could."

Morgan looked at some of the crime scene photos. "Good lord, who would do this to a teenager?" He closed the folder and leaned over the table. "So we have seven different M.O:s. Are we sure it's the same UnSub?"

"Yes. All victims are students at the same school, and the time frame is too compressed for different UnSubs." Gideon held a photo in front of his face, scrutinizing it carefully.

Amazingly, Reid managed to raise his voice above the volume of a faint whisper, and adressed the rest of his team. "This could be a variant of the high school shootings occuring more frequently nowadays. In 2007 Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech. The police found a suicide note in Cho's dorm room that included comments about "rich kids", "debauchery", and "deceitful charlatans", leading them to the conclusion that Cho found his fellow schoolmates less worth than him."

"Could the UnSub be a student at the school who has some business with the victims?" Prentiss rested her elbow on the table as she flipped over a few of the pages in the folder.

"Let's not rule that out." Hotch hated the idea of kids killing kids. "It's the best lead we have right now. We'll be landing in a few minutes, so take some time to gather your thoughts."

Reid closed his eyes. The pain behind his eylids was nearly unbearable and he wished he was home in his bed. Or rather in his bathroom. Once again, nature called and he staggered off to the bathroom for a quick stop before the plane took ground, hand firmly pressed against his mouth.

--

**I am looking forward to reviews on this chapter, I know it was a little slow - but I need to have Reid in a crappy state for a few more chapters. R&R, my pretties!**


	3. Beginning the hunt

Setting up in the local police station, the BAU was getting ready to get their hands dirty with the crime at hand. A whiteboard was covered in crime scene photographs and short notes, and across the room agent Hotchner was preparing to go over the usual routine with his co workers. Folders were spread all over the table, waiting to be scrutinized. Prentiss and Morgan were already hard at work with the papers, trying to put together some form of victimology. It was a huge task, as all the victims had different social backgrounds and were involved in different cliques. As Reid arrived with a figurative bucket of coffee they could begin.

"Alright, so what do we have here?" Hotch already knew, but felt the need to refresh the minds of all his agents.

"Seven victims in three days, different M.O:s, different genders, different ethnicities." Morgan looked exhausted sitting on an uncomfortable wooden chair, slightly slumped over the table. "We have a lot of loose ends that need tying."

Prentiss flicked a pencil back and forth between her fingers. "We have nothing to go on. All that binds these victims together is their age and their place of education. They don't even live in the same part of town."

"Do we have a comfort zone mapped out?" Hotch.

Reid yawned, rubbed his eyes and took a big gulp of coffee before standing up. "I've narrowed it down to this part here." He pointed to a semi-large circle drawn on a map taped to the board. "It is approximately 1,8 miles in diameter, falling free from all the known dump sites and crime scenes." Reid went back to his seat, still rubbing his eyes.

"The UnSub is most likely male, age probably ranging from 25-35." Prentiss pointed the pen thoughtlessly around the room. "There were no signs of sexual assault on any of the victims. That could mean that our UnSub is impotent, or has difficulties expressing himself emotionally in his social life."

"He could be confused in his sexual preferences, therefore not having a primary target group." Reid frowned, folding his slender fingers under his chin. "If we didn't have the coroner's photographs of post mortem bruising, I'd say the UnSub was female. But it still doesn't add up.." Reid couldn't help feeling like there was something they had forgotten.

"Female serial killers are extremely rare." Morgan interjected. "The last 200 years there have only been just over 60 female serial killers. Besides, females are usually not hands on with their victims, but use other means of going about it – poison seems to be the number one choise."

Prentiss sighed. "These boys and girls have been stabbed, strangled and beaten to death. These are all passionate ways of killing someone. The UnSub has some sort of relation to his victims."

"Where to start?" Gideon rose and began pacing around the room. "Seven victims, seven M.O:s."

"Make that eight." JJ entered the room, holding her cell phone in one hand and a wad of papers in the other. "Tara Jenkins, 16, found dead behind TR Miller High School. Her head was beaten to pieces." She let the papers fall on the table. "There were signs of sexual abuse."

Hotch moaned. "Perhaps it's not the same UnSub?"

"Too much of a coincidence." Gideon stood by the board, looking at the photographs – somewhat perplexed. "All the students went to that school. No way is this a different UnSub."

"Where is the school?" Hotch.

JJ marched over to the board. Grabbing a thumbtack, she pinned it tightly to the map. "Here."

Reid sighed. "Right in the middle of the comfort zone."

"So much for that theory." Hotch dropped a casefile on the table with a sharp sound. "We're right back to scratch. Morgan and Prentiss, you two get to the crime scene and find out as much as you can. Reid and Gideon, begin speaking to the families of the victims and check out previous scenes. Try to continue making some form of victimology. JJ, you come with me. We are going to talk to the principal of TR Miller High School."

And with that, the BAU dismantled temporarily to do their best in the capturing of the vicious UnSub.

---

**A/N: Is it possible to bore yourself with your own story? Because I think I just did. I need to spruce this up a notch. I'll skip a few steps I had planed, and try to throw a little action in this puppy! R&R would be very appreciated!**


	4. Change of plans

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING, I make NOTHING, but I love it ALL!**

_The students are scared and no one knows who is next in line for this twisted individual. Parents are keeping their children home from school, trying to keep them safe from the predator that haunts our streets. The police encourages this act and tells the public to be as careful as they possibly can when it comes to avoiding contact with unknown individuals._

_The UnSub in question would be a white male, somewhere between the ages of 25 and 35. He has the ability to move among us without getting noticed, which leads us to believe there is nothing special about the way he looks. He is ordinary looking and probably never had any major difficulties finding partners, altough never manages to stay in a relationship for a longer period of time due to difficulties in both communication and emotional status. He is possibly homosexual. He owns a car, non conspicous, probably a neutrally colored stationwagon or sedan of a fairly recent year. He has a job that causes him to feel unfulfilled, possible being held up at the same position for a long time without advancing. By the course of his actions, we have come to the conclusion that he is extremley violent, dangerous and volatile, and the police together with the FBI strongly encourages the population of Brewton to stay clear of being alone the best they can. He is on a high, satisfied with the fact that the police has not yet caught him. He will not stop until he is caught._

JJ's press release was calm and collected as usual, frankly stating the facts to the rolling cameras before her. It had been two days since the BAU arrived in Alabama, and since touchdown five more victims had been uncovered, all killed withing hours of their discovery.

The BAU had been working day and night, trying desperatley to find even the least of clues as to who their mysterious UnSub could be. The M.O:s kept changing, and the victims were still all too different to tie together. Hotch was close to ripping his hair out by the roots. The police were patrolling the streets with minimal time intervals, and still, kids were dropping like flies around him. He had never felt more powerless in his life. Looking out over the room, he watched his team and knew they all felt exactly the same way.

Reid had finally recovered from his hangover after falling asleep in a tipped over mug of coffee the morning before. Prentiss had not been sleeping since they got there, neither had Morgan. Their eyes were bloodshot and threatning to fall shut at any time. JJ's press release had been well formulated and informative, but as she entered the convention room, she looked nothing like the well dressed FBI-agent who spoke on TV a few moments ago. The worn out look in her eyes combined with the wrinkled blouse and skirt told the tale of very over worked woman. Gideon kept pacing around the room, sometimes stopping at the board to inspect it. Hotch wondered if Gideon actually believed that something new had magically appeared, or if he was just making sure he hadn't missed anything.

"This is getting us nowhere." Hotch stood up, pushing his chair back on the slightly sticky floor. "None of us have slept in two days. We can't do our best in this state." Grabbing his coat from a hanger, he rubbed his eye with his free hand. "You all have five hours to get to the hotel and get some sleep, then we return here to continue with the profiling." He didn't want to stop, but when the body starts to shut down from lack of sleep there was not much else to do.

"And when we return one more kid has bit the dust." Morgan shook his head. "We can't leave."

"We're not gonna stop him sitting in here scratching our heads any more than we do in bed. Go sleep, then return."

Reid rose, coffee in hand. "I slept a couple of hours last night, so I'm not very tired. I'll continue with the profiling while you go rest."

"When did you sleep?" Gideon turned in disbelief towards his young colleague.

The color spreading over Spencer Reids face somewhat recembled a stop sign. "Uuh, well.. I sort of fell asleep in the bathroom. I was just going to rest my eyes for a moment and then leave, but when I woke up three hours later.."

"Reid!" Hotch frowned at his sluggish co-worker. "You were supposed to be out interviewing some of the friends of the latest victims, not catch Z:s on the toilet."

Filled with shame, Reid looked at his brown loafers. They were in dire need of a shining. "I couldn't help it.."

Hotch was in no mood to argue with or scold his junior team member, but decided to let it slide this once. The fatigue was getting to all of them, and the young agent was not of the stronger kind. "Nevermind. You go do the interviews right now and I want to hear the results when we get back from the hotel." With that, Hotch turned around and left the room.

Morgan and Prentiss followed him. Morgan halfed turned towards Reid with a smirk on his lips. "Nice job, kid.."

Reid was left alone in the room, feeling like an abandoned dog. But still, he realised he had only himself to blame for falling asleep in the bathroom, and he had to take the consequenses of his actions – or in this case, non-actions. Grabbing his bag, he headed towards the door, setting his sights on the '99 Ford Focus rental car, the only car left behind by the rest of the team. He had a lot of houses to visit.

---

Three hours and seven interviews later, Reid felt washed out. A man can only take so many girls crying in one day, and he had passed his limit about five houses ago. The front of his shirt was partially covered with snot from the sobbing females, and the mere thought of all the germs multiplying of his garment made him queasy. He had to shake it off, since he still had six houses left on his list. Driving up to number eight he put the car in park and stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of a small modular house. He double checked the number, then ventured onto the footpath leading up to the house. The garden was more a mess than a masterpiece, with crabgrass and dandelions popping up here and there, but the house had a nice, friendly feel to it. Stepping up onto the veranda, he rang the doorbell and waited for an answer.

A click was heard from the inside of the door and it slid open a tad, still attached to the safety chain. A petite brunette peered out through the slight crack between the door and the post. "Who are you?"

Reid opened his credentials towards the girl. "I'm Special Agent Doctor Spencer Reid with the FBI. I'm investigating the recent murders of students in this town. May I come in?" He could see the disbelief in the young girl's eyes, and he couldn't blame her. A psychotic serial killer was on the loose, and he was an unknown man showing up on her doorstep.

"Could I see those, please?" The girl motioned for Reid to hand over his identification to her, and he complied, sticking it through the chink of the door. She looked at it for a few seconds then slid it back out. "Thanks. Can't be to careful with a psycho walking the streets." She unlocked the door.

Reid was about to make a remark about how statistically there are psychos on the streets at any given time, but decided against it as it would only frighten her further. Instead, he entered the small house.

"I'm Penny Harrow." She reached her hand out to meet Reids anticipated handshake. "I've never talked to a real FBI-agent before", the young girl admitted. "My parents aren't home, they are in Phoenix on a business trip. Won't be home until next Tuesday."

"You shouldn't be alone in the house, don't you have any friends to go to?" Reid suddenly felt a protective instinct building up inside him. The girl could not be older than 16, she was home alone and had no parents to look after her. "You can come down to the station if you want to."

The girl smiled. "No, thanks. It's very nice of you, but my boyfriend is coming over in a while, so I'm cool."

The bind around Reids chest loosened somewhat. "Good, that's good.. Look, I have some questions I'd like to ask you, are you okay with that?"

"Sure, but I don't know who is doing this."

"Oh, no, I'm not expecting you to! I just have some questions about the kids who have been murdered, and about people around your school."

"Oh.. Okay.." She took a few steps towards a hallway. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee, tea?"

Reid was too embarrassed to admit that all the coffee he had been drinking the last three hours had put his stomach in a very much upset state. "Coffee, please." He did need the caffein to stay awake. He began strolling around the room as the girl left for the kitchen. He could hear metallic clanks and the sound of running water on the other side of the wall.

"So, have you got any suspects yet?"

Reid looked at a few frames containing happy-perfect-family-pictures, kids smiling and even the dog was on the picture. "Not yet. But we are feeling like we're starting to catch up. As a matter of fact, we recently had to change the profile."

"Oh?"

"Yes. The UnSub, that is the unknown subject, has shown tendencies towards immature haste, therefor we have lowered the age to somewhere between 18 and 25. It is a possibility that the UnSub is someone you go to school with."

The girls tone changed. "But.. But the woman on TV said that the killer is a gay 35 year old man." The clanking had stopped and only the sound of the coffe maker could be heard.

"Well, partially correct." Reid shuddered. People only heard what they wanted to hear. "The UnSub is very inconsistent in his behaviour, which leads us to believe that he has not yet matured to a level where he is capable to control even the smallest whims during his actions. At the moment, we are seriously considering a male student as the perpetrator. Do you know.."

The sudden blow to the back of Reids head took him by surprise. His world went black as he slumped over, roughly hitting the thin moss green carpeting of the floor. Tricklets of blood began spreading over the young agent's forhead and cheek, dripping down onto the hideous carpet. The house fell silent accept for the shallow breaths drawn by the junior FBI agent.

**A/N: Alright, here we go! Reid is up to his knees in doodie, and there is a killer at large. Just the way we like it, right? ) R&R, and I will love you for life!**


	5. A penny for your thoughts

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all, although I wish I did..!**

**A/N: It's a short little thing, as I am dead tired.. But I have a feeling it will be well liked.. evil laughter**

Penny held the wooden pepper grinder in her hand. For being a kitchen utensil it was rather heavy. Once upon a time it was a medium dark mahogany, but now it had been stained with the blood of young Doctor Reid.

Looking down on the floor, she watched the agent sprawled across the rug. Not a word escaped her lips as she sharply turned around and marched back into the kitchen, ripping the refrigerator door open. She took out a big lemon, and then threw the pepper grinder in the sink. Running scolding hot water over the grinder, she rubbed it all over with one half of the lemon. She knew the acid would throw off any attempt to find traces of blood on the object used to render the young agent unconscious. Finishing the wash, she put the grinder back in its original place.

Returning to the living room containing the still unconscious Doctor Reid, she sat down on the couch for a moment. _Goddamn it! _she thought_. An FBI-agent? How much do they know? I have to get rid of him. _She rested her chin on her clenched fist, biting her lower lip. She was usually very resourceful in tight situations, but this time.. She had no idea what to do. Knowing it was only a matter of time before more agents would come knocking on her door, she rose from her seat and ventured into the kitchen.

She returned after a few moments, holding a large kitchen knife, tightly gripped in her slender hand.

--

"Where's Reid?" Agent Hotchner began to feel a boiling rage inside his chest. It was the second time in 36 hours the junior agent had just disappeared without a trace. The first time he had apparently fallen asleep in the bathroom, and it seemed as if it had happened again. Reid had vanished into thin air. And Hotch was not a happy camper. "Doesn't he understand that we have work to do? Morgan, get him on the phone!"

Morgan had already dialed the number to Reid's cell phone and waited for the detained doctor to answer. "It's ringing." And that was all it continued doing. Ringing. And ringing. And ringing. Morgan snapped the cell shut. "There's no answer."

At that moment, Hotch looked like he would lift through the roof. The furiously red cheeks matched his crimson tie, which appeared to be slightly strangling him as the veins on his neck pulsated at an insane speed. "That kid is going to give me an ulcer." He grabbed his own cell phone and sternly dialed Reid's number. After numerous signals, it finally went to voicemail. "If you are not at the station in less than 20 minutes, agent Reid, we are going to have a long talk, and believe me, you will not be doing the talking, and you will not be liking it." Click.

JJ looked at her boss, not being used to seeing him at this enraged state. One part of her was just as angry as Hotch, but another side – a bigger side – began to worry about her junior co-worker. It wasn't like him to just disappear like this, unless.. "What if something has happened to him?" She pulled up her phone to dial the number.

"Put that phone away." Hotch had grown weary of trying to reach the young doctor. "He'll turn up. We have work to do." He returned to the table covered with papers, folders and photographs.

"I just have to go to the bathroom." JJ grabbed her purse and left the room.

Morgan leaned out into the hallway, holding on to the post. "Don't fall asleep now, you hear." He couldn't hear the answer JJ mumbled as she took a corner at quick pace.

Coming to a halt just behind the turn, JJ once again pulled up her phone from her purse. Dialing Reid's number, her hands trembled slightly. As it went into voicemail, she drew a breath. "Hi, Spence – it's JJ. Look, could you call me when you get the chance? I'm getting a weird feeling about you. Just call me, okay?" With that she hung up the phone.

Figuring she wouldn't get a chance to do so later, she actually went to the bathroom to splash some water on her face. Carefully examining her face, she instantly discovered 6 more wrinkles, and a few more bags around her eyes. She sure looked 10 years older than she was right now. _Why can't we live in a normal world? Where our jobs would be obsolete and kids didn't kill kids. I want to go home._ She arranged her hair to look somewhat more awake than she felt.

In the hallway on her way back to the conference room where most of the BAU were residing, a stinging feeling came over her. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her entire body, in her whole inside. Something was definitely wrong.

_Reid, where are you?_

**A/N again: I need R&R, my pretties.. What to do with poor little old Reid..?**


	6. Covering the tracks

**A/N: Thankyou all you lovely people for reviewing, it is such a warm fuzzy feeling to open my mail and see a review alert - plus I'm happy that you like it! Enjoy!**

Penny paced the living room floor. She felt nervous, irritated and just a little bit scared. _It wasn't supposed to go like this. Damn snooping FBI piece of shit, don't come to my house! _She clenched her fists in pure anger. Stopping short in front of the window facing the street, she spotted Reid's car parked at the curb. She instantly knew she had to get rid of that car, and fast, or the rest of the FBI was going to be sniffing at her door at any second. Picking up her cell phone, she dialed a familiar number. A few seconds went by before she got an answer.

"Get over here, right now. We have a major problem." Pause. "Don't ask stupid questions, just get over here! And call Lindsey, bring her with you." Click.

Penny threw the closed Nokia on the couch and let out a groan of sheer frustration. Running her hands through the dirty, tousled curls also known as hair, she bent over, resting her elbows on her knees. The sudden need to regain blood flow in her head was overwhelming. _Okay. Okay. Okay. Calm down. So far nothing is shot to shit. But they have to hurry over here. We have a ton of things to do._ She lifted her head and drew a deep breath. All she had to do was relax and keep her mind straight, and everything was going to be fine. Just fine.

She once again picked up her phone, placing it safely in the back pocket of her jeans. She had a long day in front of her, and she knew it. The nausea had to take a backseat to the task at hand. All she could do now was wait.

--

At 5.15 pm Doctor Spencer Reid was 2 hours late to arrive at the station. Giving the well exceeded appointment, the BAU was beginning to worry about their youngest member. Even SSA Hotchner began to have second thoughts about his junior team member's whereabouts. There had been several attempts made to contact Reid, and none of them had been successful. _This better not turn into New Orleans all over again. _Although the thought crossed his mind, he seriously doubted it. Reid wouldn't go AWOL like this without a good reason, not for this long period of time. Hotch began to worry.

"It's been 2 hours, Hotch." The irritation in Morgan's voice was all but subtle. "We have to go look for him."

Hotch sighed. "Had this been a civilian we would have told them to wait 24 hours before doing anything."

"But this isn't a civilian!" JJ burst out. "This is Reid we're talking about, one of our own! He went out on his own and now he is missing!"

"JJ!" Hotch turned sharply towards her. One could almost see the black cloud circling his head, and his eyes had turned an eerie shade of black. "For all we know, he's at the high school talking to students."

"He's not." Prentiss piped up over by the whiteboard. "The school shut down this morning. Not enough students attending classes."

JJ tilted her neck, looking at Hotch, as if saying "not what, smartass?".

"Do you have a list of the people he was going to interview whine we were resting?" Gideon's voice broke the uncomfortable silence.

Hotch began digging through a pile of files. "Yes. Just family and friends of victims. Here." He handed the paper to his senior team member. "But we are _not _going to look for him. He'll turn up. But Gideon and Morgan, you go talk to the people on the list. Find out where he was last seen. The rest of us are going to stay here and work on the new profile."

"Don't you find it odd", JJ questioned, "that we go to sleep for four hours, and no one is murdered. At the same time, Reid goes missing. Can't you even consider the remote possibility that the two might be connected?"

Hotch knew she could be right. No bodies had been found in the past seven hours, and that was a long period of time for this particular UnSub. He bit down hard, clenching his jaw as he looked out the window. "I am. But we have to stay focused." Turning towards Gideon and Morgan, he motioned them to leave. "Call me when you know something."

The two men nodded, and set course on the exit. Before they even reached the door, a local deputy blocked the entrance with his scrawny frame. "Agent Hotchner? We found something."

"Another victim?"

The man fidgeted in the doorway. "Well.. Ah.."

--

Half an hour earlier Penny ripped the door open to let her visitors in. Roughly, she pulled them through the entrance, and slammed the door shut behind them, securely fastening the chain in its lock. "Good, you're here."

"What is going on?" The tall, lanky young boy asked, rather agitated. "What's the major problem?"

"Shut up, Jared!" Penny was all too wound up for all these mindless questions. She just wanted to cover up all the traces of Dr. Spencer Reid in her home. "Look, an FBI agent came here a while ago. He was saying that they changed the profile to a student instead of a grown man."

The slightly pudgy blonde who followed Jared though the door began to hyperventilate. "Oh, my god, oh my god, oh my god..!"

"Shut up!" Penny felt her anger flare up inside. Lashing out, she slapped the blond across the face, making her whimper and cover her cheek in her hand. "We don't have time for this! We have a lot of work to do. Put these on." She handed her friends latex gloves, the same kind she was already wearing.

Jared stared at the gloves in his hand. "Penny, what did you do?" It suddenly dawned on him. "You killed an FBI agent? Are you insane?! What were you thinking?!"

"Must you people be forever talking?!" The irritation took the upper hand. "Look! The cops and the feds are going to be here at any moment. We have to get rid of the evidence. Jared, you take his car and drive it into the pond in Greensboro, take the bus back. Throw this out the window on the way." She handed him a plastic bag, its contents covered by the big Piggly Wiggly logo as well as the keys to Reid's car.

"Lindsey." Penny attempted to make contact with the blonde, who had slipped into a light state of shock. "I promise you won't have to see the blood. Just help me with one thing. Okay?"

Lindsey nodded carefully.

Penny exhaled in relief. "Great. Jared, go – we don't have much time."

Jared turned to leave, but stopped short in the doorway. "Penny.. Where is the fed dude?"

"I took care of him. Now go."

Realizing that was the best answer he was going to receive, he felt less satisfied than he would have wanted to as he closed the door behind him. He now wished that he had never become involved with Penny in the first place.

**A/N again: Poor Reid..**


	7. Realizations

**A/N: And so we enter chapter 7 of Camera Obscura. Oh, the tension..!**

The two Nissan Terrano SUV's pulled up at an insane speed to the small park in the south part of Brewton. If a serial killer hadn't been on the loose the park would have been full of kids and parents, playing in the last luke warm beams of the setting sun. It had been a wonderful day, and still the small town had been near to a ghost town. Understandably, the residents of the mideastern city were not really up for walking the streets anymore.

Hotch jumped out of the driver's seat, followed by Morgan and JJ. The rest of the team hurried as well over to the roped off area, swarming with policemen. Lifting the blue and white ribbon they raced over to the sheriff who was talking to a few of his fellow officers.

"Sheriff Walters!" Hotch called out to catch the man's attention, and succeeded. The sheriff turned around, concern in his eyes.

"Agent Hotchner." He walked over to the very anxious group of federal agents. "Maybe we should talk alone."

"Like hell you will!" Morgan's temper flared as he took a few intimidating steps towards sheriff Walters. "Show us what you found."

The sheriff took a deep breath, and motioned the group to follow him. About 150 ft further on, Hotch could see a gathering of people, one of them took pictures with a very expensive looking camera. The lens was continuously pointed at the ground.

As they reached the officers, they began to slowly disperse before the oncoming FBI-agents. A few of them glanced at them, concern in their eyes. This made JJ feel very uncomfortable. _Please, don't let it be..._ She didn't even want to imagine what they would find in the grass before them.

Sheriff Walters slowed his pace to a halt. "This is it. Agent Hotchner, I would recommend that..." But Hotch had already pushed past the stubborn sheriff and his eyes landed on the ground before him. His breath caught in his throat.

JJ could feel her eyes tearing up. Desperately she fought to keep the salty drops from begin falling down her cheek. "Oh, my god..."

Morgan's clenched his teeth so hard they hurt. His stomach turned and it was all he could do to keep from screaming. After the few seconds it took him to calm himself down, he turned to Hotch. "I hope you know this is your fault."

--

Lindsey and Penny were on their hands and knees, struggling to get the bloodstains out of the oak flooring. Halves of lemons lay all around them. Two bottles of bleach had been emptied onto the floor in an attempt to remove the crimson puddles that once covered the floor.

Lindsey cried. Trickles of tears ran down her cheeks, hitting the floor without a sound. "You said..."

"I know what I said."

Penny was sick of Lindsey's bawling. If she didn't need the extra hands in cleaning up, there was no way she had still been breathing right now. Beginning to gather up the slices of lemons scattered around them, Penny began to think about Lindsey in a different way. She had become a liability. She couldn't handle the pressure. There was a good chance she was going to crack if she ever went in for a questioning. Biting her lower lip, Penny looked at her sobbing friend who was frantically rubbing the floor with wire wool. As soon as they finished cleaning up the mess she carelessly left, Lindsey would be stricken from the group. Harshly.

Penny wondered silently why she had agreed to bring Lindsey into the clique. The object of the pact was to get rid of people that made her world a worse place, not bring them into her home. All the students that they had rid the world from had been irritating her in one way or another, and she was sick of it. Jared had been perfect. He was sort of thin, but still strong as an ox. He could hold the victims down while Penny did as she pleased.

She loved hearing the begging. When the chosen victims finally realized that they were not leaving the current location alive, the begging always kicked in. They begged, they cried, they threatened and they begged a bit more, but to no avail. She was merciless, as had the victims been to her. Never paying her attention, not wanting to hang with her, laughing at her clothes... The list was long. But all of them paid. _They all paid. They had to pay for what they did to me..._

She got a kick from the kills. She always sat by her victims' heads as they died before her. She looked into their eyes, making sure she was the last thing they saw. Penny wanted to see, and feel, life running out of her victims. It was a magical feeling, almost spiritual. Silently, she mused over how a psychologist would react to her thoughts. Her lips curved into a smile as she realized how insane she was. And she loved every minute of it.

Rising, Penny threw the lemons in a garbage bag. "It's clean enough." She motioned Lindsey to get up. "We have to get rid of this. We'll take Jared's car. Come on."

Lindsey rose, legs shaking somewhat. "Where are we going?"

Annoyed, Penny put her hands on her hips and took a questioning stance. "Well, we can't very well throw it in the garbage now, can we?" She didn't wait for a reply but took sight on the kitchen to get the rest of the discarded lemons.

Without Lindsey seeing it, she silently let the kitchen knife slide into one of the garbage bags. Mere thought of having to deal with Lindsey's whining for more than ten more minutes made her nauseous. Returning to the living room, she met Lindsey's anxious eyes. "Let's go."

The two girls left the house, one of them not knowing that only the other one would return.

**A/N again: I think we can definetely say that Penny is a psycho. Enough said. R&R please!**


	8. When breathing hurts

**Disclaimer: I own a few of the carachters, but none of the BAU. I just use them for my own personal, perverted pleasure..!**

They had all recognized it instantly. There was no mistaking. No one else would ever wear such a god-awful shirt and not feel bothered by it. It was Reid's. And it was covered in blood.

The sheriff walked up to the BAU, who were still staring blankly at the bloody piece of cloth on the ground in front of them. "We also found these." He handed agent Hotchner two plastic evidence bags, marked and ready to be delivered to the crime lab. One contained Reid's FBI identification. The other bag held his gun, still holstered.

Hotch felt his insides twisting as he reluctantly took the bags from the sheriff's hand. This _was _his fault. The credentials in the bag were spotted with blood. Probably Reid's blood. He cursed himself for not taking the young doctor's absence seriously, but how could he have known? He looked at sheriff Walters. "Did you find... Anything else?"

Walters shook his head. "A man walking his dog spotted a plastic bag on the grass. When he picked it up, the badge fell out and he saw the blood, called us immediately." He nodded towards the bloodied shirt on the ground. "This was all that was in the bag. No body yet."

"Yet?" Once again, Morgan's voice went into high pitch as he felt the rage bubble up inside his chest. "There won't be a body, because Reid's not dead!" He was furious at the entire situation, but mostly he was furious with Hotch. If he hadn't been so rigid, this wouldn't have happened. They could have found him before anything happened at all. Morgan felt like punching his boss in the face, but repressed the urges to lash out against his superior.

"Morgan's right, there is still a good chance that Reid is alive." JJ had wiped the tears from her eyes and shaped up somewhat. "The fact that clothes and identification was discarded away from the actual victim usually means that the UnSub has not yet executed his plans. He wants to distract attention from the original place of crime."

"Well, I don't know about that..." Sheriff Walters cut in. "This guy doesn't leave half measures."

JJ turned around and swiftly walked away. Morgan turned to the clueless sheriff. "What the hell is your problem?" He turned around and sprinted to catch up with JJ.

"What did I say?" The sheriff shrugged.

Hotch glared at sheriff Walters. "Are you an idiot or do you just look like one?" He motioned his team to follow him back to the vehicles. "I want the photos and the test results on my table the moment they come in!" he called back to the officer.

They were suddenly nearly knocked over by a junior officer making his way through the marching group. "Sir! Sheriff Walters! We have another body!"

Hotch spun around. "A student?"

The officer shook his head. "I don't know. We just had it called in on the radio. It's over at the garbage dump. A real mess too."

Without as much as a mutual glance, the entire BAU started to race over to the SUV's, setting their course at the city dump. The shrieking of the tires made several officers wince in pain.

--

Reid closed his eyes. The pain was close to unbearable. Blinking hurt. Breathing hurt. Even the heartbeats in his chest seemed to hurt. Not to mention the horribly uncomfortable position he had been placed in. There were sharp pieces of gravel digging into his naked chest. He tried once more to lift his head, but failed miserably. The lightning white pain shooting through his temples was too much to handle, and he let his sore forehead hit the ground.

His left arm had gone numb a long time ago. Whatever had been used to tie his wrists together behind his back was not made of a smooth material, and sharply dug into his skin. He had previously tried to tear loose, but only to discover that he had been tied down to some kind of fixed object, and he was not strong enough to move it.

He lay on his left side, knees slightly bent, with his feet tied together. His arms were useless, so were his legs and his head. And everything hurt. He had already figured out that he was in the basement, most likely in the same house as he entered moments before he was knocked unconscious. _She must have dragged me down here by my feet, _he thought strenuously. _My head is mashed._ There was blood on the floor beneath him.

_She is the UnSub. I knew it was a woman! Too much didn't make sense. _In the middle of feeling good about himself, he once again realized his predicament. _But why is she keeping me here? What is she going to do?_ All of a sudden, fear came over him. This girl was no more than 16 years old, but she was surely certifiably insane. There was nothing she wouldn't do, and Reid had a gnawing feeling that he hadn't seen the last of her insanity.

He had woken up here about an hour earlier, alone. He could hear voices from upstairs, and another girl crying. The duct tape over his mouth prevented him from calling out for help, and his restraints were too tight to break. The only thing that made this situation at all bearable was the fact that the single light bulb in the ceiling was spreading light in the cramped cellar. It could not be more than 40 square feet down there. Without the light Doctor Spencer Reid may very well have wet himself from fear at this point.

But still, he was calmed by the though that his team knew his route for the day. They knew he was going here, and it was only a matter of time before they showed up. Maybe he could make noise to raise attention when they arrived. He'd hear them, the house had paper walls. He just hoped that that was a two-way deal.

The temperature in the basement was rapidly dropping. _Night must be falling._ Reid tried to huddle up to keep some body heat, but once again failed due to the intense pain in his head. There was no way he could move. Shivers ran down his spine. _Where is my shirt..?_

Suddenly he heard the front door open and close. Steps. Basement door opening. The slow, steady steps on the rickety staircase made him shudder. Even the steps sounded mentally deranged. Painfully slowly, they came closer and closer, until they stopped at the base of the stairs.

"Hello."

**A/N: Hopefully everyone is pleased that Reid is alive, but I can't guarantee that it stays that way. Penny is quite insane. R&R my pretties!! I love the R&R's!**


	9. First encounter

**A/N: Thankyou for the great reviews! Am I scaring you with the "non-guarantees"? Good! That's the suspense we need.. Enjoy!! BTW, I own nothing except the psychotic crazyperson Penny Harrow!**

The young doctor felt his heart skip a beat as he heard her voice. It was calm and condescending, as if she was speaking to a puppy or a small child. There was no trace of nervousness or regret, just a plain "hello". Mere sound of it made fear begin to grow inside Spencer Reid's chest.

He let his eyes rise to meet hers, but immediately regretted it. Her eyes were dark, nearly black. The look emerging from them sent a terrified shiver down his spine. Her eyes radiated amusement. The slight curl on her lips completed the picture of a demented lunatic standing before him.

Holding her arms behind her back, she oozed of superiority. Her broad-legged stance gave her an even more intimidating look. The petite brunette, no more than 5'2", had managed to make herself appear so much less lethal than she really was when Reid first saw her. She now more resembled the psychotic killer she indeed was. And it frightened the young doctor to the verge of crying. He felt completely helpless, and alarmingly exposed.

She took a few steps towards Reid, painfully slow. "How are you feeling?" The young agent neither responded or moved. He was all too frightened, plus the duct tape over his mouth made it impossible to answer, had he even wanted to.

Penny crouched in front of his head, still keeping her gaze firmly planted in the eyes of Doctor Reid. "I bet you are wondering why you are here." She smiled widely. "I suppose you already figured out who I am, so I don't have to tell you that."

Yes, Reid had already figured out who and what she was.

Penny enjoyed the frightened look in the young doctor's eyes. She felt the excitement rise inside her, the tingling feeling was not to be mistaken. Having a plaything in her basement was exhilarating, and she couldn't wait to begin to amuse herself with it.

She reached over Reid's head, grabbing one end of the duct tape covering his mouth. With a swift yank, she tore it off, causing to young agent to wince in pain. A pitiful whimper escaped his now unsealed lips.

"There we go." Penny sat down on the ground before him. "Now we can talk." She crossed her legs and leaned over, resting her chin in her hands. "So. Is there something you want to tell me, Doctor Reid?"

Reid still felt the pulsating pain over his mouth. He had no idea what the madwoman wanted him to say. "What.. What do you mean..?" His head still rested on the hard gravel and dirt floor, having not the strenght to lift it even an inch.

Penny laughed. "Oh, Doctor Reid, don't play with me.. I am sure that you are aware of what I am capable to when I am not pleased with something?"

Closing his eyes, the young agent knew exactly what Penny was capable of. He had seen the pictures. And the fact that he was tied up in her basement did not make the situation any better. _I have to keep her calm. If she gets angry there is no telling what she will do. _"What would you like me to tell you?"

The smile continued to rest on Penny's lips. "Good boy. Do as I say and you might not hurt as much." She shifted her weight backwards, placing her hands on the ground behind her. "Tell me how much the feds know about me."

Reid drew a deep breath, as deep as he could before his chest shot blazes of white pain into his torso. "About you..? Nothing. I was the only one who actually thought it was a woman." He couldn't believe he was actually telling the UnSub about their profiling.

Penny kept smiling. "Good. Now who knows you've been here?"

Five thousand thoughts and answers flew through the young agent's head. Which one was the right one? "There was a list. A list of people I was going to see today. There's a copy at the station. Anyone could have seen it." The moment he finished his last sentence he knew it had been the wrong answer.

Penny's lips changed from a curved smile into a resolute line. She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, the look she gave Reid made him panic. Her eyes were dead. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. "Really?"

Reid tried to move, tried to somehow shield himself from Penny's look, but to no avail. In one move, she was over him, pinning his head to the ground with her left arm. Reid cried out in pain as his already sore skull was further battered. Penny's all too red lips rested half an inch from the young agent's ear. "When they get here, you better be quiet." She spat out the words. "There are no traces of you in my house, and you should know by now that I can be very convincing." Letting go of Reid's banged up head, she stood up. Grabbing a roll of duct tape, she tore off a piece big enough to cover the already incapacitated agent. She roughly pressed the silver tape over his mouth, preventing any further sounds from emerging from the young agents lips.

Reid tried to squirm enough to make it difficult for Penny to shut him up, but failed miserably. He was once again silenced.

The young girl had the same empty look in her eyes as she once again sat down in front of the immobile agent. "Better to keep this on, just in case." She reached her hand out over his head, and ran her fingers though his tangled curls. "You are such a beautiful man, Doctor Reid." Her tone changed. Suddenly, the irritation was gone, replaced by an almost cooing intonation. "Behave, and we will have a nice time together." She let her fingers trail down from his bangs over his nose and cheek, landing on the duct tape covering his mouth. The smile returned to her lips. "Do you know why I kept you?"

The young doctor just looked at her, fear in his eyes.

Penny tilted her head, letting some light return to her eyes. She looked almost flirtatious. "Because I have a feeling you could bring me a lot of joy."

Reid's heart raced. His pulse was so loud; he was surprised Penny couldn't hear it from where she was sitting. _She's insane!_ The panic he felt inside him made his insides twist up like a rubber band.

Rising from the floor, Penny turned her back on her prisoner. "I like you, Doctor Reid." She walked over to the staircase. "Don't make me dislike you. You wouldn't like me if I disliked you." Taking a few steps up the stairs, she suddenly stopped. One look at the crumpled heap also known as Spencer Reid, and she stepped back into the basement. Grabbing the thin chain hanging from the light bulb in the ceiling, she pulled it once and the room went black. "Good night, sweet prince. See you tomorrow." And with that she left the young agent alone in the dark, closing the door behind her as she exited the cellar.

She didn't hear the muffled cries of sheer panic and fear emanating from the basement floor.

**A/N again: Reid is in so much trouble right now.. Stay tuned for more terror!**


	10. Traces

**A/N: Thankyou for your wonderful reviews, I enjoy them so much! And thankyou also to the amazing writer editor frog who has taken upon herself to be my beta reader from this chapter and on. You rock, girlfriend! Oh, and BTW, I own none of the BAU, and I am making zero dollar - believe me!**

The city dump was not as large as the team had expected, it was more a scrap yard for motorized vehicles. The smell was unmistakeble, however. The scent of rotting food, mold and bird droppings hung in the air, forcing its way up the agents' nostrils. Prentiss held her nose in an attempt to keep the stench out, but it was too overwhelming and she could actually taste the garbage as she breathed through her mouth.

JJ looked at her colleague. "You can look at slaughtered and skinned people without flinching, but garbage makes you nauseous?" It amazed JJ that her senior co-worker was strong enough to hold her stomach contents at times.

Prentiss wafted the air around her. "I have a very...sensitive...sense of smell." Moving in the direction of the male members of the team, the two women picked up their pace to catch up.

Hotch felt the insides of his cheeks water, a sure sign of impending vomiting, but he managed to repress it. He had to make it to the scene. He couldn't break up now.

Only two police vehicles were parked at the crime scene, and no tape had been put up yet. A few officers circled the area. Morgan was the first to reach the body. At first, he didn't want to lower his eyes to determine if it was in fact his junior team member who lay before him. He already saw the blood on the ground a good 6 ft in front of him. Fear rose inside him; what if it was Reid? _It can't be Reid. It can't be. It can't be. It can't be Reid._

As he reached the scene, he eventually let his look drop to examine the body. A deep sigh of relief escaped his cracked lips. "Oh, thank god..." He turned to his team which had stopped a few steps away, holding out his hand, as if to calm them. "It's not him. It's not Reid."

JJ felt her chest relax, as tears of relief began filling her eyes. She involuntarily fell into the fatherly arms of agent Jason Gideon. The older man held her while letting his eyes scrutinize the crime scene, trying to take it all in. The sobbing woman in his arms had to come in second to the task at hand, at least for the moment.

Feeling the great stone of guilt lifting somewhat from his chest, Hotch stepped up beside Morgan. Looking at the body before them, he gave an agonizing sigh. "So this is victim number fourteen." He kneeled. "Female, approximately 15 years old, throat slashed from ear to ear. No visible defense wounds." He rose. "And also no sign of excessive violence."

"Odd." Morgan took a few steps to the other side of the teen on the ground beneath them. "Every time this UnSub leaves a victim, there's a tremendous amount of force used, as if anger was the basic element in the attack. This has more of a get-rid-of-quick-and-leave feel over it."

Prentiss emerged from the back of a car wreck. "You guys, I think I found something." She motioned them to follow her behind the car. Hotch and Morgan shifted sides and accompanied their female co-worker to the place of her findings. Holding a pen, Prentiss crouched on the ground, poking at a plastic bag. "There's blood here."

"Are you sure it's just not a spatter?" Morgan peered over her shoulder.

"A spatter that worked its way into a nearly closed plastic bag? You have to be kidding me."

Hotch kneeled beside the plastic bag. Taking out a pen from his front pocket, he also began to examine the bag. Poking a small hole, he used a paper tissue to prevent disturbance of any fingerprints as he carefully tore the bag open. Its contents spilled onto the ground. Steel wool, empty bottles of bleach, pieces of bloodied pieces of cloth and lemons. At least a dozen lemons, all squeezed out beyond recognition. Hotch sighed. "Someone has been covering their tracks."

Morgan nodded. "Yeah. And someone has been watching too much CSI. This is a halfassed attempt to remove traces of blood. Thank god UnSubs watch too much TV sometimes, it gives them ideas but also give them inaccurate information."

"True." Gideon stepped over some metal scraps, joining to the rest of the BAU behind the wrecked Honda. "The acid in lemons doesn't remove bloodstains; it does however throw off the attempts of identifying residue with Luminol." He crouched beside Hotch. "Doesn't make it impossible though."

Hotch rose from the ground brushing off some dust. "Morgan. You and Gideon go back to the station. Get the list on my desk, and talk to everyone on it – thoroughly. We need to know where Reid was last seen. Start now and we'll continue tomorrow." He never let his gaze leave the plastic bag. The two men nodded, and swiftly walked away.

"Prentiss." Hotch turned to his female co-worker.

"Yes?"

"Make sure this makes it to a crime lab immediately. I want to see fingerprints and a blood analysis."

"Yes sir." Prentiss turned around, already having her cell phone in her hand and dialing the state lab.

Hotch spotted JJ behind the car. She had not yet joined her co-workers, but stood silently looking at the young blonde teenage girl on the ground before her. The tears in her eyes could no longer be contained, but began streaming down her cheeks. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she had pulled her shoulders up as if she was freezing. Walking over to her, Hotch removed his jacked and placed it over his junior team member's shoulder. JJ didn't move a muscle.

"JJ." Hotch tried to make contact. "Reid's going to be okay."

"That could have been him, Hotch." JJ closed her eyes and grabbed the lapels of the oversized jacket resting over her, pulling it together over her chest. "I don't know if I could..." She paused, words getting caught up in her throat.

Not being oblivious to the feelings Hotch knew JJ held for the young doctor, he put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her in close under his guarding frame. "I know." He turned her around to keep her eyes off the body. "We'll find him."

The sun had set almost an hour earlier, and light was disappearing rapidly. Hotch led JJ to the Nissan Terrano SUV and put her in the front seat. Before getting into the car, he stopped, holding the door handle. He turned his eyes up towards the color shifting sky. _If there is any justice in this world... _


	11. Fear of the dark

**A/N: A short but chilling chapter, beta read by editor frog! (though I made a few changes after editing. Any mistakes is totally my fault) Enjoy, my darlings!**

The young doctor violently yanked at his bonds in a desperate attempt to free himself. The sudden darkness had surprised him, and frankly – terrified him. Ever since he was a little child he had been afraid of the dark, and while someone usually grows out of that kind of fear, Spencer Reid never rid himself of his ailment, but had to struggle with it still. 25 years old and afraid of the dark. The other agents had a field day when they found out.

But now, here he was. In a pitch black cellar, tied up like a dog in a muzzle. All his attempts to liberate himself from his painful restrictions had been futile, and the young doctor felt the terror rise in his heart and every beat of it. His arms hurt terribly tied behind his back, and his legs cramped up from time to time from the lack of mobility. He had no feeling in his feet. Thankfully enough, his head had stopped pounding. Now there was only a dull headache, which was a lot easier to think through.

The darkness had never been more frightening. He was alone, immobile, defenseless against any danger that could possibly lurk in the nooks and crannies of the blacked out cellar. The house above him had fallen silent with the opening and closing of the front door, which lead Reid to the horrifying conclusion that Penny had in fact left the building. For a fraction of a second, he wished she would return; not being able to decide between the two evils he was facing. Alone in the darkness or alone with a psychotic murderer.

The cellar looked completely different in the dark. The merciless darkness that ruled a moment ago had eased up somewhat as his eyes eyes grew accustomed to it. He could now make out shadows and larger objects around him. Small beams of light searched their way in through under the basement door, giving the staircase an eerie glow. The small amount of light did nothing to ease the frightened agent's mind, in fact it made him even more scared. No matter how much Reid feared the dark, he preferred it to be pitch black rather than being able to see shadows. The shadows terrified him. Who knew what could be hiding there, waiting to come at him.

Reid felt his eyes beginning to sting, and he realized he was crying. The sheer terror of being alone in the basement got the better of him, and without as much as a sound he let his heartbroken tears hit the dirty, uneven ground beneath him. He began shaking all over. It was hard to determine whether it was from the immense terror that coursed through his body or the increasing coldness in the basement. The young agent strenuously pulled his knees up as far as he could towards his chest, ignoring the pain it caused. The heat seemed to vacate his body through every inch of his skin, and he shuddered violently.

_Why is she doing this to me__? he wondered._

Fear got the upper hand, and he squeezed his eyes shut to block out the darkness around him. Suddenly, there was a noise. A scratching sound, just to the left of his head. Reid jumped as much as he could, trying to move away from the source of the sound, but it was useless. He was stuck, and the scratching came closer. Tears flowed from his eyes as he began to hyperventilate. All of a sudden, he felt something soft and hairy touch his cheek. In panic, Reid jerked his head up, squirming frantically. His terrified screams were muffled by the duct tape. The object which had grazed him skittered on in front of him, leaving a slight scent of fur behind.

There was no way he'd dare to open his eyes to see what had just brushed up against him. He could only imagine what it was, and at this point his mind was racing a mile a minute. The short encounter with the unknown object had been enough to send his heart into a beating frenzy.

His short, frightened breaths made his chest cramp, and it hurt terribly. Cringing, he tried to regain control of himself, but the panic was too great. A few minutes later, the young doctor drifted into blissful unconsciousness due to the lack of oxygen.

Thankfully, he was not awake to notice the rat scurrying over his face. And thankfully he was not awake to feel the humiliating, warm urine stream down his thighs and hip, down onto the ground.

**A/N again: Everyone who feels sorry for Reid raises a hand! --evil--**


	12. Cleaning up

**A/N: Thankyou to the lovely editor frog for beta reading my stories, you are a great help! And all you Reid-lovers out there - you will love this, or hate this..!**

"Rise and shine, beautiful!"

The sudden light blinded the young FBI agent as it woke him from his fear-induced sleep. Penny stood before him in the middle of the cellar, hands on her hips and a big smile resting on her lips. She looked like any other 15-year old girl you'd see on an average basis; jeans and a tank top, her brown hair securely fastened in a sloppy ponytail. She frowned.

"God, it smells terrible in here!" She sniffed, and then took a few steps closer to the confused young man lying incapacitated on the ground. Kneeling down next to him, she placed a hand on Reid's hip, making him jerk with surprise. Only then did he feel the wetness on the front of his pants. Instantly he felt blood rushing to his head as he blushed terribly.

Penny lifted her hand off the young agent's hip. "Did you wet yourself?"

Reid closed his eyes, once again feeling the tears rising to a dangerous level, but he managed to keep them from falling this time. The realization that he may very well have angered the deranged girl holding him hostage was almost worse than the fact that he had soiled himself like a small child.

The petite brunette rose, still looking at her prisoner, who was trying to make himself sink through the ground in shame and fear. "That's okay. You're not the first." Moving towards the young doctor's feet, she began untying them. "If you kick me, you're going to regret it", she stated flatly. "I'm just gonna get rid of these wet pants. They smell awful."

Reid could feel the panic rise all over again. The mere thought of being disrobed any further scared him senseless. He was already freezing, and any further removal of clothing wouldn't help that situation. There was also the fact that he did not want this demented lunatic to see him in his underwear. He tried to squirm so she couldn't reach the zipper, but, as always, he failed. His muffled protests made no impact on Penny, as she adamantly pulled his soiled pants off, leaving the poor doctor tied by his arms to a fixed object, completely helpless – and now also more exposed than ever. He wanted to cry.

"There we go!" She triumphantly held the pants in her hands while walking across the room towards a shelf. After some rummaging she found a plastic bag in which she stuffed the pants, tying it shut. She threw the bag in the far-right corner of the cellar, and then returned to her prisoner. She sat down in front of him, crossing her legs casually. She repeated the harsh ritual of ripping the duct tape from his lips, which were now flaking and hurt terribly. He winced in pain, letting out a small yelp.

"How are you holding up?" She looked at him, smiling.

Reid could hardly gather up the strength to answer, but finally regained some form of might to speak up. "Please..." He could only whisper. "Please, let me go..."

Penny threw her head back, letting out a mad laughter that echoed through the cellar. When she finished and gained back her breath, she once again leaned over the young doctor. "No... I don't think so." She ran her fingers through his hair, ignoring the terrified look in the junior agent's eyes. "You are _too_ adorable. Do you really think I'm gonna let you go?" She lowered her lips to slightly touch Reid's ear. "I'm not finished with you yet." Her voice lowered to a mere whisper.

The words made Reid let out a pitiful whimper. _I have to keep her happy. I have to keep her happy. I have to keep her happy._ He could feel the coldness sweep over his body, making him shiver in every part of his body. "Okay", he managed to push through his lips. "I understand." He looked up, letting his eyes meet hers. They seemed normal; there was no darkness in them and they weren't blank like before, but they had a slightly amused look.

She sat back up, maintaining eye contact with her prisoner. "Good. Now, we need to get you washed up, you smell like a toddler." She stood up and went up the stairs. Although she neglected to re-tape Reid's mouth, he felt it was safer to stay quiet. Who would hear him if he screamed? He decided to be cooperative, waiting for his team to find him. The young doctor knew they would find him sooner or later, and preferably sooner. _They knew what houses I was going to, and they have to see right through her. Please, let Gideon see right through her. Please let them find me before..._ He couldn't finish his train of thought before he once again heard footsteps on the stairs. She was back.

Holding a green garden hose, Penny almost skipped down the steps, a big smile on her lips. "Now let's clean you up!" She dropped the hose to the ground, holding on to the hose pistol. The other end of the hose ran up the stairs to the first floor. Aiming the pistol at Reid, she opened the valve and pressed the handle.

The young agent didn't have a second to react before the freezing cold water hit his body with full force. Trying desperately to escape from the jet of water, he thrashed around as much as he could, kicking his legs wildly. He cried out, screaming at the shocking cold hitting his body.

Penny mostly aimed the water at his groin area and his legs, but when she felt it was clean enough, she directed the jet towards the torso and head of the junior doctor. She seemed amused by doing this, enjoying the sight of an incapacitated man shrieking from the icy water running over his upper body.

He could barely breathe; the water hitting his face and eyes, blinding him. The mouthfuls of cold water made him cough and gag as he tried to scream, forgetting the promise he made to himself not to do so. He tried desperately to duck away from the jet, but to no avail. He was at the mercy of an insane teenager, who absolutely enjoyed tormenting him. Suddenly, the jet ceased. Reid still coughed and snorted, trying to rid himself of the fluid in his mouth and eyes.

Penny gathered up the hose and once again ventured upstairs.

Reid could feel his body shaking violently. The coldness in the water nearly sent him into shock. He kept coughing and groaning, trying to clear his throat from fluid. His rapid breathing once again threatened to send him into unconsciousness, as it deprived him of much needed oxygen. _Oh, god..! She's insane! I have to... Have to... Aaargh..!_ His mind was blurred from the startling experience. He knew he had to calm down before he passed out. The frightened doctor forced himself to breath sensibly, reaching into the bottom of his heart for the strength to draw deep, slow breaths.

About ten minutes later, Penny returned, carrying what seemed to be a rather heavy iron bucket. Reid had finally managed to calm his breathing down as he looked up at her, his mouth wide open in fear.

"I suppose you're cold."

She held the bucket up over Reid's body and in one move, she tipped it over him. The scalding hot water hit him like a lightning bolt and the pain was indescribable. He screamed straight out, curling up into a ball. The boiling hot water poured onto his body, making the skin glow like hot coal. Reid kept screaming after the scalding was over, his skin feeling like it had been set on fire. Penny dropped the bucket on the ground with a rattle and crouched down before him. "Oh, it wasn't that bad, you big baby. You're clean, aren't you?"

Reid simmered down, forcing his voice to lower to normal tone. "Y-y-yes..." he stuttered through the shivers. "Th-th-thank y-you for c-c-cleaning m-me up..." He gritted his teeth at his idiotic words, but knew he had to keep her happy. _Keep her happy. Keep her happy._

"You're very welcome, sweetheart!" She smiled at him as she wiped some water from the young doctor's face and placing a few strains of hair behind his ear.

Suddenly, there was a ring on the door. Penny stopped in the middle of a caress and her smile fell. "That ought to be your friends." She stood up, grabbing the bucket off the floor. The petite brunette looked at her nearly naked, soaking wet and shivering prisoner. "I hope you understand that I can't take the risk of you telling me off."

Reid watched as Penny lifted the bucket over her head by the handle, and brought it down hard, hitting him over the face with its heavy form. There was a flash before the young agent's eyes, then everything went black, and his head fell to the ground. Blood began dripping from his nose and left corner of his mouth, down onto the jagged ground.

Penny put the bucket down on the ground beside the unconscious doctor, brushed off a few drops of water, then calmly walked back up the stairs to answer the door.

**A/N again: Houston, we have a nut job..!**


	13. The innocent game

**A/N: Who was at the door? Could it be..? Thankyou for your reviews, keep 'em coming, and thank you my dear editor frog for beta reading my story!**

FBI agents Jason Gideon and Derek Morgan stood outside the door of a small modular house. The surrondings were calm and a few children played in the back yard of the house next door. On an ordinary day they would have been in school, but this was no ordinary day. There was a killer on the loose and the whole town was walking on egg shells.

The two agents waited for the resident to answer the door. Gideon turned around and eyed the yard before him. "They don't seem to be too fond of gardening." The dandelions were multiplying all over the lawn, slowly turning it a bright yellow.

Morgan threw a glance over his shoulder. "I wouldn't be too preoccupied with my lawn if there was a murderer roaming the streets."

Gideon shrugged and opened his mouth to say something more, but never had the chance. The distinct clatter of a lock opening caught his attention and he once again turned to the door.

The young brown haired girl who opened the door a chink looked a bit confused when she saw the two agents on her porch. "Yes?"

"Hello, I'm agent Jason Gideon, this is agent Morgan." The two men held up their credentials for the girl to see. "We have a few questions we'd like to ask you. May we come in?"

The girl looked at the identification badges and nodded. Closing the door, she unhooked the safety chain from its place and re-opened the door, inviting the men into her home. "My name is Penny Harrow. What can I do for you gentlemen?" She smiled as she closed the front door behind her, securely re-locking it.

"Are your parents home?" Gideon looked around in the quiet house.

Penny shook her head, making her brown bangs fall into her face. "No, they're in Seattle on a business trip, they won't be home until next Tuesday."

The older agent frowned a bit at this. Why hadn't she called her parents when the murders began, telling them to come home? He looked at the smiling girl, trying to read her. "So you're all alone?"

Penny's smile widened. "Oh, gosh no! I wouldn't dare to be alone with a psycho out there! My boyfriend is living with me until all this is over." She lifted a jacket from the floor, hanging it on a hook sticking out from the wall. "He's such a slob. He's just out getting pizza. Can you believe they stopped delivering when all this started?"

Gideon attempted to lead the meaningless conversation into more relevant areas. "Has there been another FBI agent here recently? Young, tall, a bit distracted?"

"Oh, Dr. Reid!" The teenage brunette stated nodding. "Yes, he was here yesterday. We talked for a while and then he left. He was going to talk to some more people, he was in a bit of a hurry, I think."

"How long did he stay?" Morgan asked the young girl standing casually in front of him.

Penny frowned as if trying to remember. "About… half an hour?"

"And then he left?"

Putting her hands in her pockets, the teenager tilted her head slightly. "Yes. Why, is something wrong?" A look of worry came over her brown eyes.

"He's missing." Gideon didn't even face the girl as he answered her question. He was busy looking around the room. Something wasn't adding up right. "Are you remodelling?"

The question took Penny by surprise. "What?"

"It looks like you're about to change carpeting. There are still green edges by the baseboards." Gideon took a few steps into the living room, examining the missing carpet from a distance.

The ever smiling teenager followed his lead, walking slowly into the larger room. "Yeah, my parents didn't like it, so my dad tore it out last week. Then this business trip came up, and they had to leave it half done." She frowned. "It was green and disgusting, so it's really great to get rid of it."

Gideon nodded silently as he turned back towards his colleague. "Well, I think we're done here."

The younger agent tuned in to the nodding, and began walking towards the entrance. As he unhooked the safety chain and opened the door, he turned to face the teenager coming up behind his older partner. "Thank you for your cooperation, Penny." He pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to her. "This is my number. Call me if you hear anything about anything, okay?"

Penny nodded and stuck the card down her jeans pocket. "I will." She followed the two agents out onto the porch. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. I hope you find Dr. Reid really soon."

The men nodded in agreement, and started their walk down the garden tiles leading to the street. Gideon was still frowning. Something in that home bothered him, but he couldn't pin point what it was. It had been different from the other families they had visited that day and the day before. The girl had not seemed frightened or out of place, but was very calm and clear. This was not a common occurrence in a town that harboured a serial killer. He tried to shake it off as they set their sights on the next house on the list, clear across town.

Penny watched the dark SUV drive away, standing in the partially shut doorway. _Stupid feds. I could feed you shit with a spoon and tell you it was chocolate, and you'd eat it._ She smiled to herself as she closed the door, securing the chain over the post.

Not even a second after she had let go of the chain, the loud sound of a violent crash roared though the small house. It came from the basement.

Penny's eyes darkened. This was going to cost him.

**A/N again: And the wacko wasn't caught. Now what punishment will Reid get for trying to alert his team members..? Stay tuned! R&R!**


	14. Actions and reactions

**A/N: Edited by dear old editor frog, I love that woman..! Thankyou for your lovely reviews!**

SSA Derek Morgan sat by the wheel of the dark Nissan Terrano, driving towards the next house on the checklist. The older agent next to him, Jason Gideon, sat quiet, looking out the window at the passing neighborhoods. The frown had not yet left his face. The same traces of reflection could be seen on the younger agent's face. He let his fingers tap the steering wheel.

"Did something about that seem weird to you?"

Gideon had anticipated the question aimed at him, already having the answer ready in his mind. "Yes." He still gazed out the window, leaning on the armrest by the door.

"Should I call Garcia?"

Without moving a muscle, Gideon answered. "Yes."

Morgan reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. Garcia was about to get another call from her ebony knight in shining armor, putting her to hard work by her computer.

--

Penny calmly walked into the kitchen. The crash that was heard would surely have been enough to tip the two agents off. Fortunately, it had occurred just a few moments too late to have any impact. The feds had already left. And Penny was not happy. Pacing slowly on the kitchen floor, she got herself more and more worked up with irritation.

_You stupid, stupid man. You have no idea what you just did._

She walked up to the kitchen counter and pulled out a drawer. She took a few items from it, holding them in her right hand. Closing the drawer, she turned around and strolled out into the hallway, setting her sight on the basement door. All the time she was humming a tune from a cat food commercial she had heard on TV the other day.

--

Minutes before, Reid had slowly opened his eyes. His confused head ached tremendously and he spit blood. It took him a few moments to realize where he was and what he was doing there, but when the pain in his face and the cold of his body hit him he instantly remembered everything. The young doctor's nose was bleeding, as was the inside of his mouth. He could feel the warm drops running down his cheek.

Moving his head slightly to the right, the young man suddenly heard voices. Familiar voices. _Morgan... And Gideon!_ He opened his mouth to yell, but all that left his lips was a dull croak. "Gideon..!" His voice refused to work properly, perhaps from all the screaming he did a while ago. No matter the reason to his loss of vocal abilities, panic began to build inside Reid's chest. He had to let them know he was down there!

Ignoring the pain in his head, the young agent lifted himself up onto his elbow, twisting his arm to the brink of dislocation. Looking around for something to use to call attention to his predicament, his eyes landed on a shelf a few feet to the right of his head. He began kicking his legs to turn around, despite the bolts of pain shooting through his arms. It took the bound doctor a good minute to get on his other side, and he frantically began pushing with his legs to tip the shelf over. He could still hear the voices of Morgan and Gideon, and unfortunately – Penny – from upstairs.

Tears ran down his face from the pain in his arms and head, but he prayed that the two agents on the next floor would hear his desperate attempt to signal them. _Oh, god – please! Let them hear me! Let them find me!_

The shelf began to wobble. A spark of hope lit in the eyes of young doctor Reid as he pushed it harder with his bare feet. _Fall! Fall, goddamnit!_ Suddenly, the shelf leaned enough for the junior agent to give it a final kick, making it slowly tip over, crashing to the ground with a deafening noise.

Reid felt relief. Now all he had to do was wait.

A minute went by. Then two. At least three minutes went by, and there was not a sound. No Morgan. No Gideon. Slowly, a startling realization came over the young doctor. The agents hadn't heard his assisted cry for help. But Penny had.

At that very moment, Reid gasped as he heard the basement door open, very slowly. The steps that followed on the stairs were equally slow and chilling. The young agent shivered on the ground, freezing and scared out of his mind. He couldn't scream for help, and the two agents who had been there were fooled by Penny's mock innocence and had left, not realizing Reid was being held captive in the basement by an insane teenager.

And now... Now he was in more danger than ever.

The steps finally stopped at the base of the staircase. Reid stared in utter fear at his captor who was staring straight back at him. The black eyes seemed to bore straight through him. But the one thing that terrified the young man more than anything was what the teenage brunette before him held in her hands.

A grater; a meat tenderizer; and a small, sharp knife.

**A/N: Stay tuned for another chilling episode of Camera Obscura..!**


	15. When sorry doesn't cut it

**A/N: Beta read by editor frog, thank you darling! And thankyou for all the nice reviews! Enjoy this chapter, it's a nasty one!**

Some time later, agents Morgan and Gideon were heading back to their temporary headquarters. After finding out that Reid never reached the next house on the list, suspicion grew bigger among the two agents. Returning to the station and rejoining their teammates, they shared their concerns with the rest of the BAU.

"The last house Reid was seen at was the residence of a Penny Harrow." Morgan wrote the name on the whiteboard. "I called Garcia and asked her to pull some info on the family. The girl says that her parents are out of town."

"Something wasn't right the entire time we were there." Gideon frowned. "She never stopped smiling."

JJ walked across the floor, joining Morgan by the whiteboard. "So she's hiding something?"

"We don't know." Agent Morgan dropped the pen on the table and sat down. "But there was certainly something strange about her."

"The father", Prentiss said, turning towards her superior, SSA Hotchner. "Do we know anything about him?"

As if on cue, Morgan's cell phone began to spew out an annoying Nokia tune. "We do now!" Flipping the phone open, he pressed the button for the speaker function. "What do you have for me, gorgeous?"

"_Unfortunately not much, my sweet sweet chocolate bear!"_ came Garcia's distinctive voice. _"Frank and Holly Harrow, daughter Penny Harrow. Residents of Brewton since the beginning of time. No criminal records, no records at all, not even a parking ticket. I have nothing."_

"How old is the father?" Hotch.

"_42. Oh, my bad. Frank Harrow is deceased."_

Gideon flinched. "Could you repeat that last part, Garcia?" He rose from the chair and leaned over the table towards Morgan, who held the phone in his hand.

"_I'm pulling up a __newspaper article. 'Tragic accident kills two. An army field exercise took a turn for the worse as four soldiers and one officer were trapped in a burning wreck of a crashed jeep. Three of the soldiers could be rescued but Captain Frank Harrow and Private Jack Travers could not be saved.' Frank Harrow died in 2003."_

Morgan turned towards Gideon. "Didn't Penny say her father pulled up the carpet the other day?"

Nodding, agent Gideon moved even closer to his younger colleague with the phone. "Garcia, could you check if there are any medical records on Penny Harrow?"

Prentiss shook her head. "What, are we suspecting a teenager for kidnapping Reid now?" A frown of disbelief rested on her forehead.

"_It's a sealed file."_

Morgan lifted the phone slightly towards his face. "Can you get in?"

"_Is a frog's butt airtight?" _The irony in Garcia's voice was no less than obvious as she answered her colleague's question.

With a hint of a smile, Morgan replied. "I don't know, sweetheart – I'll ask Reid when we find him."

"_I need a little time to get in here. I'll call you back in a jiffy!"_

Closing the phone, Morgan turned towards his superior. "Have you guys been able to find anything out about the UnSub?"

Hotch shook his head. "There hasn't been a murder since we found the body at the dump. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad."

"We know for sure that he's not gonna stop", JJ broke in. "We also know that something has happened to throw the UnSub off his feet, since his intervals were rather short only a day or two ago."

"Are we dead on with the profile?" Prentiss sat down by the table, still flicking a pen between her fingers. "We are staring into a wall here!"

Hotch drew a breath and stepped over to window. "We have a serial killer who has stopped killing, we have no traces or clues and we have a missing agent. What could possibly get worse?"

The knocking on the open doorframe didn't surprise anyone. The phrase which was banned forever from the BAU had just been carelessly uttered, and now Murphy's Law was in full effect. The deputy knocking faced Hotch. "Sir, you have a phone call on line 2."

Hotch cursed himself for being so stupid as to think that things couldn't possibly get any worse. He picked up the phone and pressed a button. "This is agent Hotchner."

Silence.

"Yes."

Silence.

"I see."

Silence.

"When can you have the analysis ready?"

Silence.

"Good."

Click.

Present members of the BAU had fallen silent, waiting for the recap of the conversation. "That was the crime lab." Hotch put the phone back in its place. "The blood on the pieces of cloth and the steel wool didn't match out latest victim." The moment of awkward silence that followed made everybody realize the frightening facts. "It's Reid's."

JJ felt her insides turn. Someone had been cleaning up Spence's blood, and very thoroughly at that. She bit her cheek so hard she could taste her own blood. Refusing to cry one single more tear, the young woman drew a deep breath and steadied herself. _No more crying. Be a professional, for god's sake!_

No one said a word. Hotch continued the recap. "They did however find some fibers on the cloths, they're sending them to analysis now, and we should have the results within the hour."

"We need to find that guy." Morgan clenched his fists in anger. "And we need to find Reid. Soon."

--

Meanwhile, in the basement of Penny Harrow, the young doctor Reid was frozen stiff with fear. He had looked many deadly criminals in the eyes, but had never seen eyes like hers. Black as coal, they shot fire in his direction, and despite the darkness glowing in her face, Reid could not see her. He could not see the girl who had been down there just fifteen minutes earlier, stroking his hair. All he could se now was the immense darkness moving towards him, painfully slow. Not a smile, not a flinch, not even a blink of the eyes. Just the steady moving and slow approaching of a black emptiness.

Reid feared her more than anything he had ever feared in his life. He begged silently for the pitch black darkness of the night to return, just to make her go away. "P-p-please..!" he pleaded. "I'm sorry!" His voice was nothing more than a whimper. "Penny, please!"

But there was no stopping the teenage girl advancing on him. She crouched before his face and gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Spencer." Her voice had no intonation at all. "For being a doctor and all, that wasn't a very smart move."

Reid shook his head vigorously. "No. No, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Somewhere deep inside he knew there was no obliging this deranged girl, but he had to try. His voice never reached above the level of a croaking whisper.

Penny tilted her head. "Poor, poor, stupid Dr. Reid. Your friends left. They had no idea you were here." She smiled slightly, but there was no emotion behind it. "But you did something very, very stupid. You know I'm gonna have to punish you now, right?"

The young, frightened man bound on the ground did not answer. Instead he began crying. A violent, humiliating river of tears began streaming down his cheeks, mixing with the blood that was already smeared across his face. "I'm sorry..." he whimpered between sobs.

"Well, sorry doesn't cut it, does it?" Penny never even moved a muscle in her face as she stood up. "Dr. Reid. This is going to hurt _you_ more than it's going to hurt _me_."

With that, the young girl raised her right knee high up towards her chest, and with all her weight following, she brought her foot down with massive force straight onto the right side of the incapacitated young man's upper body.

The impact knocked every piece of wind out of Reid. He could feel the crackling of bones breaking as Penny's foot made a hard contact with his ribs. The pain was indescribable. He tried to scream, but there was no air in his lungs. Inhaling was impossible. He cringed into a small heap, desperately trying to gain his breath.

Penny took a few steps back to watch Reid squirm in pain. Seeming satisfied with her work, she kneeled before the now panting young doctor. "You brought that on yourself. At least now you won't be moving around." Suddenly, her face broke into a bright smile and beaming eyes. In one instant, all the anger and psychotic tendencies seemed to have been whisked away by some strange force. "But of course, I'm not finished with you!" She actually sounded chipper.

The tears in Reid's eyes stung, and his chest felt like mashed potatoes. Every breath seemed like he was inhaling fire. "P-p-ple-e-ase..." he whispered pitifully.

"Go ahead and beg, sweetheart." She gave the young doctor's hair a stroke and smiled. "I like it when you beg. Now, where were we?" The pretty brunette leaned over and grabbed something behind her back. "Now you be good." She held the object two inches in front of Reid's eyes, as if to show him what was coming.

Reid's eyes widened. He didn't want to believe this was happening.

It was a grater.

**A/N again: Scary.. What will that psychotic bh going to think of next..? Stay tuned for the next chapter of.. Camera Obscura!**


	16. Oceans away

**A/N: Beta read by editor frog! I own nothing, except my OC - and they're not making me any money!**

The grater dangling in front of Reid's face scared him half to death. He had already determined that this was a seriously deranged girl, and that she was not to be toyed with. His entire body was shaking, partially because he was freezing from the hosing down he had to endure earlier, but mainly because the girl in front of him had no barriers what so ever when it came to sadistic behavior.

Without intent, Reid's mind shifted into analytical mode, and he did an instant analysis of the demented teenager before him. His very first thought was "Marquis De Sade", from whom the very word 'sadism' originated. The 18th century writer and aristocrat, known for his sexually violent behavior as he took pleasure in other people's pain. He was eventually sent to an insane asylum for a duration of 32 years, where he wrote a large part of his books and novels. He married his older sister and had three children. _This girl has to be the direct descendant of De Sade. Inbreeding is not a good thing for DNA._ He shook violently, being wet, cold and scared, in the hands of a complete maniac.

The smile on Penny's lips gave the young doctor chills. But it was nothing compared to the fear he felt when he looked into her eyes. He could see it clearly. The enjoyment. The anticipation. The sexual excitement. _She is getting aroused by this!_ Panic came over him, knowing that sexually sadistic killers were not inhibited by any kind of actions. From this point on, anything could happen. And it scared him.

"Dr. Reid?" Penny poked the young man on the cheek with the grater. "Don't disappear on me now!" Pressing the grater hard against the slight stubble showing up on the young agent's cheek, she leaned over him, once again placing her lips an inch from Reid's ear. "I love to see you bleed..."

Her voice was only a whisper as Reid felt the jagged metal teeth dig into his skin. He whimpered pitifully, trying to duck away from the sharp grater pressing against his skin, but couldn't escape it. Penny's hands were too strong, and he was in too much pain to make any vigorous movements. "Please, stop..!" he begged, feeling the tears bubble up into his eyes all over again. "Please!" His voice was a mere coarse whisper.

Penny's smile was beaming. She could never have enough of this beautiful man begging for his life and health. She wanted to keep him forever. The tingling sensation in her body was exhilarating, and the young brunette could feel her heartbeats throbbing nearly straight out of her chest. She loved this. Lifting the grater from Reid's face, she placed it on the flat of the young agent's stomach. "Better here?"

Tears streamed from Reid's face. "No, Penny! Don't! Please, stop!" He sobbed, shaking with fear. The young doctor could feel the grater scrape lightly over the soft skin of his stomach. He tried to cringe, but his ribs shot fire through his entire chest. He couldn't move.

Catching the eyes of the young man, Penny gave him a patronizing look. "It'll be over soon." She began pressing the grater harder and harder against Reid's body, making him wince in pain and crying even harder.

Before the young girl had the chance to move the grater any further, came a distinct sound from upstairs. The doorbell. Penny froze. Frowning, she released the grater from her grip, dropping it on the ground. "I wonder who that could be..." she mumbled somewhat perplexed. Turning around, the young girl bent down to pick something off the ground.

Reid panicked. "Please don't hit me again", he croaked. "I won't scream, I swear!" His face still hurt from the last blow with the iron bucket.

"I know you won't. But just in case." The teenage brunette faced him, holding the familiar roll of duct tape. Ripping off a piece, she pressed it over his lips, and so he was muted once again. "Now don't you go anywhere, you hear!" She gave a slight laugh at her own irony, and began walking up the stairs, blacking out the cellar as she left.

The darkness didn't bother Reid anymore. He cried in pure relief as she left the basement, just being happy she left. But the tears were not only of relief – whoever was at the door would never know he was down here. _Please, let it be Gideon! If he's coming back, it means he knew something is wrong! Please, let it be Gideon!_

--

Penny reached the door, peering though the peep hole. A groan escaped her lips as she unlocked the door and swung it open. "What are you doing here, Jared?!"

The young, lanky man in front of her looked nervous stepping through the door. "I got rid of the car and threw away the bag, but when I was on the bus back I saw a bunch of cops over where I tossed it." He paced the floor, running his fingers though his hair. "They must have found it! Jesus, we're gonna get caught, we're gonna go to jail!"

Penny felt the irritation rise inside her. "Will you shut up?! No one is going to jail, I have everything under control!"

"What about the cops? And that fed you 'took care of'! What about them?!"

"Jared, calm down!" Penny grabbed the boy's arms, shaking him. "I've got this. Relax."

"You got this, you got this, yeah right!" Jared tore loose from the girl's grip and continued pacing. "Jesus, Penny, don't you get it!? This is serious!"

"Hey!" Penny shouted at her friend. "This is not a good time to freak out! Not with the fed in my basement!" She cringed, not believing what she had just blurted out.

Jared's eyes widened. "The _what_?!" There was a moment of silence before he pushed past Penny, moving towards the basement door.

"Jared, don't!" Anxiety and anger mixed in her mind as she rushed after him, but it was too late. The boy had already reached the door and begun to make his way down the stairs, with Penny close behind trying to stop him. As Jared took the last steps down the stairs, he reached for the thin chain hanging from the light bulb in the ceiling. Jerking it, he was face with a frightening scene.

A young, gangly, FBI agent lay before him on the ground, soaked to the bone, wearing nothing but his boxers. His face and head was smeared with blood. Duct tape covered his mouth, but he was awake, looking imploringly at the boy by the stairs.

Penny could hear Jared's breathing getting heavier and heavier, shorter and shorter, and she knew he was going to freak out. "Jared, calm down. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Not as bad as it looks?!" The boy spun around, facing Penny. "You have a federal agent tied up in you basement while the entire town is looking for a serial killer – us! Are you crazy?!"

"Look, you weren't protesting when we killed those other kids, were you?" Penny placed her hands on her hips, leaning slightly forward. "That was all fun and games, right?!"

"That's different!" Jared groaned. "A fed..."

"Relax! The feds were already here, I had them totally fooled, and no one is suspecting us!"

There were a few moments of silence as Jared turned slowly away from his friend. Placing his hands on his head, he sighed. "This is too much..."

Penny frowned. "Well, it's too late to back out now."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is, Jared. We've gotta ride this out."

"And what are you gonna do with him?" The boy nodded at the incapacitated agent, who could do nothing more than watch the pair – begging that the boy would release him, or at least call for help.

"I dunno. Have some fun, I guess."

"This is too much, Penny. I can't do this!"

Penny's eyes darkened. "What do you mean?"

Still not facing the girl, Jared lowered his eyes to meet those of Dr. Reid. "This has gone too far already." He walked towards the young agent on the ground.

Penny rushed after him, grabbing his arm, twisting him around. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm letting him go! Maybe we can get off easier if we turn ourselves in!"

"No, you can't!" Penny yanked Jared's arm as he tried to make his way to the young doctor.

Spinning around, Jared grabbed the young girl's shoulders, pushing her down onto the ground. "Stop it, Penny! We can't do this anymore!" He turned away from the girl who just hit the ground and crouched down beside Reid. Reaching behind the young agent's back, he tried to reach his bounds. "I'm sorry about this..." he mumbled as he got hold of the rope tying down the frightened man.

Suddenly, Jared froze. A gurgle emerged from his throat as his eyes widened. His hands stopped working the knot keeping Reid restrained. Looking up at his possible savior, Reid saw the small trickle of blood making its way from the young man's mouth down his chin. As the young boy fell backwards onto the ground, Reid could see the knife in Penny's hand as she stood behind her latest victim, looking at the dying teen on the floor. "I told you no, Jared." Dropping the knife on the ground, the young girl grabbed the hands of the unconscious boy, and dragged him across the floor, placing him in the far left corner of the room.

Reid was terrified. A boy had just been brutally murdered two feet in front of him, and there had been nothing he could have done. One thing was for sure – Penny was not going to give up voluntarily. _Dear god, help me._


	17. Violated

**A/N: Beta read by editor frog, and I own nothing except Penny, and she's not any source of income. Get ready, ladies and gentlemen.. Here it is..!**

Reid truly feared for his life. Seeing the last breath of life leaving the young boy lying motionless in the corner of the basement almost made him start to cry again, but he managed to keep it in. Swallowing hard, he looked up, only to see the young, psychotic murderess walking towards him. He made an attempt to speak, forgetting the gag across his mouth. All that could be heard was a muffled garble through the duct tape.

Penny sat down in front of him. "Sorry you had to see that. I just couldn't lose you. Not after all we've been through." She reached her slender hand out and caressed the young agent's cheek, pushing some bloodied hair out of his face. There was a soft smile resting on her lips, almost caring. "You are so beautiful, you know that?"

The words made him shudder. Why was she doing this? The intonation of her voice was soothing, nearly flirtatious, and her eyes had a strange look to them.

Penny's hand made its way down Reid's neck, onto his chest, softly touching his massacred ribs. She let her eyes fall down onto the young doctor's thin body, grazing every inch of it. "You look so hot." Her fingers made circles around his nipples.

A thousand and one thoughts rushed through Reid's mind, but every single one of them ended in the same way. _NO!_ He tried to speak once more. "Mrrf!"

Penny smiled. "Shh..." Letting her hand slide down the flat of Reid's stomach, she lifted the edge of his gray, checkered boxers and reached in behind the fabric.

The young agent flinched as her hand made contact with his private parts. He tried to move away, push her fingers away, but the pain in his chest stopped him. He winced, and once again felt the tears rushing to his eyes. "Mrrrffff!"

"Hush, puppy." Penny let her fingers close around the most personal part of the young doctor's body. "You have nothing to be ashamed of." She began to move her hand, still smiling.

The touch of her hand made the frightened man want to vomit. _Oh, please, no! Please, stop! _He shut his eyes, trying to pretend he was somewhere else, anywhere else but there. Tears ran down his face and he sobbed through the gag.

For what seemed like an eternity, Penny held a firm grip around Reid's privates, but just as suddenly as she had grabbed it, she let go. "This isn't going very well, is it?" She tilted her head in her usual manner, and looked at the crying man before her. "Maybe we should try again later?"

Reid didn't answer. He kept sobbing, keeping his eyes firmly closed. He refused to look at his assailant. He wouldn't give her the pleasure. After this, nothing could possibly be worse.

The young girl shrugged. "Fine then." She rose and brushed some dust of her jeans. "Are you hungry? I'm hungry." She didn't even wait for an answer, but turned around and walked up the stairs, shutting the door behind her.

Reid cried. He cried and cried and cried. He had never felt so violated in his entire life. The pain in his chest was nothing compared to what the deranged girl had just subjected him to. He had just been, as far as he was concerned, raped.

--

The phone rang in the police station of Brewton, Alabama. Not even one signal had gone through before agent Hotchner had the phone in his hand. "Hotchner." Silence. "Yeah." Silence. "Good, thank you." Click.

The remaining crew of the BAU waited anxiously for the result of the phone call. "Well?" Morgan lifted his hands in question.

"No prints on the bag." Hotch put the phone down. "The fibers on the cloths were a green fabric, 100 nylon, no trace of blood on them." He sighed. "We still have nothing."

"Green fabric?" Gideon looked up from his notes. "Did you say green fabric?"

"Yes."

Morgan turned to his older colleague at the table. "The missing carpet in the Harrow house. It was green." He watched as Gideon nodded.

"That's too far fetched, Morgan." Prentiss leaned on the armrest of the somewhat comfortable chair. "There has to be a thousand green carpets in Brewton. Didn't you say it was a modular home?"

"Yeah."

"They're all constructed the same way, same tiling, same wallpapers, same carpeting." Hotch sat down in his chair. "We need more."

"Why?" Morgan stared his boss in the eyes. "The least we can do is go back there and have a closer look around."

"There's not a judge in this country that would give us a search warrant based on carpet fibers and a dead father." Hotch shook his head. "Be realistic, Morgan."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?!" Morgan burst out, nearly screaming at his superior. The helplessness was getting to him, and he had to let some of the frustration out. Hotch just happened to get in the way.

"Morgan!" Gideon rose. With one look at his younger co worker, he managed to make him calm down and return to his seat, although reluctantly. Taking a few steps through the room, stopping at the white board. "What do we have..?" he asked. "We have a killer with no apparent M.O., we have 14 dead bodies lacking any trace of the murdered, we have no comfort zone, we have no motive, no suspect and we have lost one of our agents." Turning to his peers, he crossed his arms over his chest. "Is this really a good time to turn on each other?" The room fell silent as Gideon scrutinized every one of the agents in it.

The silence was broken by the distinct signal of Morgan's cell phone. Flipping it open, he pressed the button to activate the speaker function. "Make me feel better, sweetness."

"_Penny Harrow, age 15, student at the TR Miller High school. Looks like we have a real number here, guys."_

"What do you mean?" Hotch.

"_Penny Harrow was admitted to the Dewmoore youth institution in 2003__ after attacking a student in her class with a fork in the dining hall. Released in 2004, reincarcerated in 2006 after engaging in self mutilation, this time at the Alhambra Mental Institution in Austin, Texas. She was released eight months ago and returned to Brewton. She was indicted three months ago for assaulting a classmate, but the charges were dropped. A real little crackpot, isn't she?"_

Hotch stared at the phone. It couldn't be this obvious. How could he possibly have dismissed this girl as a suspect? But the profile..? "The last victim", he mumbled.

"What?" JJ.

"The last victim. She had her throat cut. That classifies as a unisex M.O. It could very well have been a woman who committed the murder." Hotch.

"She lied to us when we were at her house", Morgan continued.

"The fibers", JJ added.

"The father dying could have been an early stressor." Prentiss.

"Where's the mother?" Gideon turned to the phone still lying open on the table. "Garcia, can you pull up something on the mother?"

"_Give me two seconds and I'll give you the world, my good man." _The two seconds passed and there was Garcia's eccentric voice again. _"Holly Harrow, age 38... Oh, my... She was reported missing a week ago. She never came in to work and the daughter called the police."_

"Penny said both her parents were on a business trip." Morgan's voice began to get worked up.

"What is the best way to avoid detection when committing a crime?" Gideon asked straight out into the air.

"Report it yourself." Prentiss grabbed her jacket off the chair as all the members of the BAU rose and quickly made their way towards the door.

**A/N: Wohoo! They're on their way! But will they make it in time..? Stay tuned for the next chilling episode of.. Camera Obscura!**


	18. I love you

**A/N: Thank you editor frog for beta reading the story! We are closing in on the end now, people! Hang tight!**

Penny returned to the basement a little while later, carrying a plate and a glass. Walking up to her bound prisoner, she kneeled before the young doctor, setting the dishes down on the ground. With a swift move she ripped the duct tape off Reid's mouth, making him whimper. His skin was red and irritated, and burned like fire when she pulled the tape away. Penny lifted the plate to show her captive what was being offered. "Made you some mac and cheese! It's all I can make, so I hope you like it." A happy smile was plastered on her face.

Looking up at his assailant in pure disgust, Reid felt a strange sensation rise inside him. It was the urge to hit the young girl, and very hard. It was a feeling he had seldom experienced, but at this moment it felt very justified. The girl in front of him had subjected him to the worst treatment of his life. Not even Georgia came close to this. Pain he could handle. It was the mind games that were breaking him down, and the molestation. The young man refused to open his mouth. He would _not _satisfy her perverted urges any more.

Penny gave him a funny look. "Not hungry? You haven't eaten since you came here, and that was early yesterday. You gotta be starving." She scooped some macaroni and cheese onto a fork and put it to the young agent's lips.

He jerked his head away, pressing his lips shut, and it made Penny drop the fork onto the ground. She didn't pick it up. Instead she put the plate down behind her, and leaned over her prisoner. With a sharp tug, she grabbed the hair on the back of his neck, yanking his head back. He cried out, gritting his teeth.

Penny was furious, and her eyes had darkened once again. "What is your problem?! I cook for you and you don't eat! I jerk you off and you can't even get a hard on! I tell you you're beautiful and you don't even say anything nice back to me! That's very ungrateful, doctor!"

Reid tried to think fast, finding a way to calm the deranged girl down. "Penny..." he moaned. "You _are_ beautiful... I'm sorry was so ungrateful..." He was mortified by what he said; enraged by the fact that he had sunk so low as to lie to his assailant and tell her she was beautiful to spare him from more pain. "Please forgive me." His scalp felt like it was going to be torn off his head as the young girl's grip hardened.

"Bullshit!" she screamed straight into his face. "Liar!" She let his hair go, pushing his head away. "All you do is lie, and lie and lie!" She stood up, beginning to pace back and forth on the basement floor

Panic ensued in Reid's mind. _She's having a psychotic episode! I have to keep her calm! _"No, Penny... I-I'-m not lying!" He tried to make his coarse voice sound sincere, no matter how hard it was. "You are a very beautiful girl. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before; I didn't know you wanted me to! Penny, you are beautiful."

Penny stopped, staring at him. She took a few steps towards her prisoner and shook her head slowly. "No... You're lying. You're all lying." She brought her right foot back and kicked the plate of food straight at Reid, spreading the macaroni and cheese all over him. The plate flew over the young agent, smashing against the wall. Just in the nick of time, Reid ducked down slightly, avoiding getting the plate straight in the face.

The young girl looked at the mess she had made, then sharply turned around and walked up the stairs without saying a word. The young agent let is eyes fall on the dead teenager in the corner. It felt horrible not to have been able to help him. Then a realization came over him. _Oh, god – not the hose again!_ He shook some mac and cheese out of his face and once again tried to tear free from his bounds, but was not successful. Suddenly, he felt something sharp in his hand. A shard. _The plate! Please let this be a thin rope, please..! _He maneuvered the shard into his right hand, and started to rub it against the rope tying him down.

The steps in the staircase were all too familiar. They were slow and steady. Reid looked up at the young woman entering the basement. Her face looked nothing like the insane woman who had just been down there. Her eyes were once again bright and a small smile had made its way onto her lips. _She's clearly bipolar. The worst kind, the kind that swings at a second's notice. Please, don't have the hose with you..! _

There was no hose in Penny's hand, but she did carry something else. A small digital video camera. And it was rolling, pointed straight at the young, incapacitated doctor. She smiled. "Say it again."

Reid felt confused. "What?"

"Say it again, what you said before."

The young doctor steadied himself, still carefully rubbing the shard of porcelain against the ropes tying him down. "You're...beautiful." He was utterly humiliated. The girl wanted to torture him to the brink of insanity; she wanted him to meet her where she already was. _Play along. Play along. Stall her so she doesn't notice the shard. _

"Good boy!" Her voice was almost giddy as she stopped in the middle of the basement. "Now, tell me I look amazing."

Reid gritted his teeth. "You look amazing."

"Tell me how much you want me."

"I want you so much." The young agent's voice began to tremble. He did not want that girl's hands on his body again. He frantically rubbed the shard against the ropes, desperately trying to free himself.

"Tell me..." She sat down in front of him. "Tell me you love me."

Reid kept looking straight into the camera, having never felt more humiliated in his life. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke up, as clear as he could. "I...love you, Penny."

"Oh, Spencer..." Penny's voice was swooning, as she lowered the camera. "I love you too!"

In that moment, Reid felt the rope snap behind his back. A small light of hope came to life inside him, but he knew he would never be able to jump the young girl from a distance because of his injuries. He had to get her closer. "Penny..." he whispered.

The camera was still rolling as Penny put it down onto the ground. "Yes, Spencer?"

"I love you so much. I want to kiss you." Shaking his hands undetectably behind his back, the young agent had finally rid himself from the rope and his wrists were free. He had to get her closer. He hoped to god this would work.

Penny smiled ecstatically, leaning in over the incapacitated man on the ground. She put her hand gently on his cheek and let her lips meet his. As she closed her eyes, Reid saw his chance – and took it.

--

"I should have listened to Reid!" Hotch hit the steering wheel in anger. "He was telling us from the start! That it was a woman, that it was a student! He even asked me to reconsider the profile!" Hotch was furious with himself for being so oblivious to the young agent's pleas.

"Well, there's not much to do about that now, is there?" Gideon sat in the passenger seat, preparing for the meeting with the very possible UnSub, and hopefully – Reid. "All we can do is catch the UnSub and get Reid back."

Hotch knew his older colleague was right. Speeding through the city, he ran red light after red light, praying that they would not make it to Penny's house too late.


	19. Lift me up

**A/N: This is it, ladies and possibly gentlemen. Here we go. (Beta read by editor frog)**

The very second Penny closed her eyes, Reid threw his arm over her head, grabbing her shoulder length brown hair, giving it a violent yank backwards. The tug made Penny cry out, but it also made the young doctor realise in how much pain he actually was. His shoulder felt like it had just been pierced by a red hot poker. The restraints had caused his muscles to go into rest after the first few hours, to keep them from cramping up. The young agent now realized that he did not have even half of his normal upper body strength, with the broken ribs and aching shoulders and arms. But he had to try.

Gathering up as much strength as he possibly could, Reid pulled Penny's entire body back towards his legs, and with all his might jammed his right knee into the left side of her waist. Unknowingly, he had hit the girl's kidney spot on, and with a groan, she fell to the ground clutching her side.

Reid forced himself up onto his elbows, ignoring both the pain in his chest and in his arms. Pulling his legs up, he managed to roll over and get on his hands and knees. The burning in his chest was undescribable and he coughed hard. He could taste the blood in his mouth. Keeping his left arm firmly clutched around his chest he struggled to get on his feet. The young agent moaned as pain shot trough his entire upper body with every move he made. But he had to. He had to get out. He had to escape.

Stumbling over the room, Reid had almost reached the stairs when he heard a high shrill behind him. A split second later, he felt Penny leap onto his back, knocking him to the ground with a scream of pain. He never had a chance to make another run for the stairs before he felt a violent blow to his head. Nearly blacking out, his body went limp; the only sound excaping his lips was a weak whimper.

Feeling his already sore body being turned onto his back, Reid had nothing to put up against the young girl's treatment. Every bone in his body was aching and his head felt like someone had just dropped and anvil on it. He slowly opened his eyes only to see Penny sit across his hips, panting, holding the meat tenderizer in her hand. It was covered in blood. The darkness in her eyes had returned, and it was deeper than ever. And Reid knew.

It was over.

--

Sharply turning the black SUV, Hotch drove straight up onto the sidewalk outside Penny Harrow's house, followed by two police vehicles and another SUV, containing the remaining part of the BAU. In less than 15 seconds the entire team was running towards the house, weapons in hand. Hotch sent the deputies around the to the back together with JJ and Gideon, while he, Prentiss and Morgan ran up to the front door.

They stopped for a moment to listen. The house was silent. Hotch felt the door knob.It was unlocked. He motioned his team members to follow him inside. Silently, they slipped through the door, weapons ready and aimed in front of them. The moment they entered the hallway, Prentiss sniffed in the air. "Do you smell that?" she whispered. Hotch and Morgan looked at her, not scenting what she referred to. She stared into the hallway. "Bleach. And lemon."

It was all the proof Hotch needed. The team swiftly moved into the house, ready to take their UnSub down.

--

Penny had straddled the young FBI agent after bludgeoning him over the head with the meat tenderizer. She was now staring straight at him, insanity gleaming in her hazel eyes. "You don't love me..." she hissed through her teeth. "You lied to me!"

Reid knew there was nothing he could say at this point to make her calm down. He had betrayed her confidence by trying to escape, and now he was going to pay the price. But what price? His ears were ringing from the blow and his vision was partially blurred. And no words could help him now. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" he cried, holding his hands up, trying to plead for his health – or his life.

"'I'm sorry, I'm sorry', it's all I hear from you!" she growled at him, rage rising in her body. She lifted her hand high into the air, holding the meat tenderizer. "And I'm sick of it!"

As she let her hand fall down towards Reid's head, he twisted around, just enough to keep the club from hitting his head, and just enough to throw Penny off guard for only a split second. The meat tenderizer hit the jagged ground with a dull thud, and before the young girl could react, Reid had grabbed the handle. With about the same upper body strenght as the girl, Reid fought furiously to gain control of the mallet. Pain shot through his body with every move he made, but he pushed it away as he fought for his life.

Suddenly, Penny lost her grip of the club and it fell into the hands of the young agent. One strike was all it took. Blood spattered over Reid's face and body as he swung the heavy kitchen utensil, hitting the young girl straight over the head. The force of the blow knocked Penny off his hips and threw her to the ground, where she lay motionless. Her eyes were still staring at him.

A few moments went by. Reid tried to catch his breath as he listened to Penny draw her last. The weak, unnerving rattle sounded through the basement, and then it fell silent.

Reid pulled himself up onto his hands and knees, and started to crawl away from her, setting his sight on the staircase. Blood was flowing down his face from the fresh wound in his head, caused by Penny's strike with the meat tenderizer. Despite beginning to feel weak from the pain and the loss of blood, the young agent was determined to reach the staircase, make his way up and call for help. Reaching the stairs, he strenously began pulling himself up the steps, still on his hands and knees. Pitiful moans escaped him as he tried to repress both the pain and the tears which burned relentlessly in his eyes. Suddenly, the basement door was flung open, and a blinding bright light hit Reid's face, making him squint.

"Reid!" Hearing the familiar voice call his name made the young doctor break out in full scaled crying, and he collapsed onto the stairs. The rapid steps moving down towards him filled his heart with hope and relief. They had found him. His team had found him. Hotch had called his name and it had released him from every hint of doubt he had about ever surviving. It was over.

The hands lifting his limp, half naked body were strong, but gentle. He had no strenght to either speak or move, all he had the energy to do was keep his eyes open, and even that was an all-out effort. He saw the worried, yet relieved faces above him as they helped each other lift the young man away from his hell hole. He watched them all. He listened to their voices as they carried him out of the basement, out to the waiting EMS.

Morgan looked at him like an older brother looks at a younger. "You're gonna be fine, Reid. We got you."

Prentiss gave him a motherly look. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Gideon nodded as he closed his eyes. He didn't speak, but Reid saw it all in his eyes. They said: _I knew you were strong, Reid. I always knew. That's my boy._

JJ didn't speak either as she supported the young agent's head as they walked slowly into the hallway. Reid saw the tears falling down her cheek, and the strained smile on her lips. She was trying to be strong.

"Reid." Hotch caught the young man's attention. The older man's eyes were sad, desperate and filled with angst. "I should have listened to you." Having never felt so ashamed in his life, Hotch tried to repent.

Reid made one last effort. With all his remaining strength, he slowly lifted his hand and took that of his superior. Not being able to speak, he simply looked Hotch in the eyes, looking through his dirty, bloodied bangs, and gave him a worn out, grateful, forgiving smile, hoping he would understand.

He did.

As the team reached the hallway, carrying their wounded colleague, a strecher was waiting for them. Placing the young agent on it, the team gave room to the EMS staff as they rushed him out the door and into a waiting ambulance.

The team stood silent in front of the house as they watched the ambulance driving away, lights on and siren blaring. Hotch drew a breath of relief. "Thank god..."

Jumping into their SUV's to head for the hospital; they left the crime scene to the deputies and the CSU. Their job was done.

**A/N again: Well, that's it! I hope it was to your liking! If there is any interest I could write an epilogue for this story, and maybe post the alternate ending I wrote. You'll have to tell me if it's something you'd be interested in ) Thank you everyone for reading and giving me wonderful reviews, you - the readers - are what has made me write this story. Thankyou!**


	20. Lift me up alternate version

**A/N: This is the alternate version to the ending of Camera Obscura. There are only a few changes, but it ends just a little bit diffrently. Just a shame to let it go to waste, so here it is (beta read by editor frog)**

The very second Penny closed her eyes, Reid threw his arm over her head, grabbing her shoulder length brown hair, giving it a violent yank backwards. The tug made Penny cry out, but it also made the young doctor realise in how much pain he actually was. His shoulder felt like it had just been pierced by a red hot poker. The restraints had caused his muscles to go into rest after the first few hours, to keep them from cramping up. The young agent now realized that he did not have even half of his normal upper body strength, with the broken ribs and aching shoulders and arms. But he had to try.

Gathering up as much strenght as he possibly could, Reid pulled Penny's entire body back towards his legs, and with all his might jammed his right knee into the left side of her waist. Unknowingly, he had hit the girl's kidney spot on, and with a groan, she fell to the ground clutching her side.

Reid forced himself up onto his elbows, ignoring both the pain in his chest and in his arms. Pulling his legs up, he managed to roll over and get on his hands and knees. The burning in his chest was undescribable and he coughed hard. He could taste the blood in his mouth. Keeping his left arm firmly clutched around his chest, he struggled to get on his feet. The young agent moaned as pain shot trough his entire upper body with every move he made. But he had to. He had to get out. He had to escape.

Stumbling over the room, Reid had almost reached the stairs when he heard a high shrill behind him. A split second later, he felt Penny leap onto his back, knocking him to the ground with a scream of pain. He never had a chance to make another run for the stairs before he felt a violent blow to his head. Nearly blacking out, his body went limp; the only sound excaping his lips was a weak whimper.

Feeling his already sore body being turned onto his back, Reid had nothing to put up against the young girl's treatment. Every bone in his body was aching and his head felt like someone had just dropped and anvil on it. He slowly opened his eyes only to see Penny sit across his hips, panting, holding the meat tenderizer in her hand. It was covered in blood. The darkness in her eyes had returned, and it was deeper than ever. And Reid knew.

It was over.

--

Sharply turning the black SUV, Hotch drove straight up onto the sidewalk outside Penny Harrow's house, followed by two police vehicles and another SUV, containing the remaining part of the BAU. In less than 15 seconds the entire team was running towards the house, weapons in hand. Hotch sent the deputies around to the back together with JJ and Gideon, while he, Prentiss and Morgan ran up to the front door.

They stopped for a moment to listen. The house was silent. Hotch felt the door knob.It was unlocked. He motioned his team members to follow him inside. Silently, they slipped through the door, weapons ready and aimed in front of them. The moment they entered the hallway, Prentiss sniffed in the air. "Do you smell that?" she whispered. Hotch and Morgan looked at her, not scenting what she referred to. She stared into the hallway. "Bleach. And lemon."

It was all the proof Hotch needed. The team swiftly moved into the house, ready to take their UnSub down.

--

Penny had straddled the young FBI agent after bludgeoning him over the head with the meat tenderizer. She was now staring straight at him, insanity gleaming in her hazel eyes. "You don't love me..." she hissed through her teeth. "You lied to me!"

Reid knew there was nothing he could say at this point to make her calm down. He had betrayed her confidence by trying to escape, and now he was going to pay the price. But what price? His ears were ringing from the blow and his vision was partially blurred. The young agent would never stand a chance in a battle, not with his injuries and his severly reduced senses. And no words could help him now. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" he cried, holding his hands up, trying to plead for his health – or his life.

"'I'm sorry, I'm sorry', it's all I hear from you!" she almost yelled at him, rage rising in her body. She lifted her hand high into the air, holding the meat tenderizer. "And I'm sick of it!"

Reid closed his eyes. His body had given up. His mind had given up. He had nothing more to give, nothing more to try. Somewhere in his mind, he actually felt relief that it would be over. He simply hoped that it would be swift. And painless.

"Penny Harrow!"

Reid's eyes flew open at the sound of the familiar voice roaring through the basement. Turning his head towards the staircase, he saw his team, halfway down the steps with their weapons drawn and pointed at the young girl sitting across his hips. It was Hotch who had lead them down there, as he came down the stairs ahead of the others. "Drop it!" Hotch stopped at the base of the stairs.

Penny never released her eyes from Reid's head, although they had now lost their gleaming insanity. There was nothing there now but fright and desperation. As Reid turned his head back, his eyes met hers, and he saw the look she gave him. He opened his mouth to say something, not knowing what – but it was too late.

Penny reached her hand further back, gathering additional force to let the club hit the young agent's face. She never got that far. The single gun shot echoing through the basement was all the young girl heard before she felt the burning pain in her chest. The force of the bullet threw her off Reid's body and struck her to the ground, landing hard on her side, knocking the club from her hand. The young doctor turned his head, seeing the girl fall. His eyes met hers once again as she lay on the ground, but this time – there was nothing in them. They were dead. Penny was dead.

Reid could hardly breathe. It was over.

The team rushed over to aid him. Hotch reached him first. "Reid! Reid, are you okay!?" He fell to his knees beside the young man, helping him to sit up. "Reid, talk to me." The worry in Hotch's voice was more than obvious.

Reid nodded as he tried to sit up, wincing with every move he made.

Prentiss touched Hotch's shoulder. "EMS is right upstairs."

Nodding shortly, the older man put his arm under Reid's arms, helping him to stand up. The young agent's legs were pretty much useless as he had lost all sense of coordination after the blow to the head, and his knees gave away, nearly making him fall over. "Hotch..." he whispered.

Hotch had a strong hold of him, and was not going to let him hit the ground. Morgan rushed to Reid's other side, taking one of the younger agent's arms over his shoulders, supporting him. Raising his bloodied head, Reid looked at his older colleague. "I... I heard you, Morgan... I knew you'd find me...!"

The exhausted smile on the young man's lips brought some light back into the heart of the entire team. They finally had their youngest member back in their own safe arms. Now they had to get him to the hospital. Slowly making their way up the stairs, the agents left the dead teenagers in the basement for the CSU to handle. They had to take care of their boy.

**A/N again: Aha! You thought I'd kill him off in this one, didn't you!? Like I could kill poor little Reid.. Shame on you:)**


End file.
